How Newcastle United insiders feel about £69m summer signing amid 'idiot' jibes from Bayern Munich
Early signs from Nick Woltemade suggest that Newcastle United recruited very well when looking for a long-term replacement for Alexander Isak.
Although Woltemade was meant to be given time to get to grips with the Premier League and be introduced to the side slowly, as Eddie Howe prefers to do with new signings, the German has been thrown in at the deep end on Tyneside after fellow new signing Yoane Wissa picked up an injury before making his Newcastle bow.
As if the pressure of being the replacement for Newcastle's best striker in years wasn't enough, Woltemade has the curse of having the 'record signing' tag and then has had a baptism of fire.
Despite all that, the 23-year-old has managed two goals in three games for Newcastle and shows a maturity and ability beyond what many expected.
Bayern Munich's bitterness over missing out on Woltemade is worse than ours over losing Isak
It makes the consistent mudslinging from Bayern Munich even more bizarre, with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge branding Newcastle 'idiots' for spending so much money on him. That came after other prominent board members from Bayern said similar things about the money Newcastle paid for him.
Bayern had tried all summer to sign the German international, but when Newcastle threw money at Stuttgart and Bayern couldn't match it, they turned bitter. We're sure that even they don't believe what they're saying, they're just jealous that the Bundesliga can't compete financially with the Premier League.
Nick Woltemade and the rest of the Newcastle side are still feeling their way around each other's styles, but even with that unfamiliarity, Woltemade has found the net on two occasions.
Nick Woltemade is better in the air than Newcastle insiders even thought
Strangely, despite being 6'6", Woltemade isn't known for his aerial prowess; instead, he's more comfortable on the ground, and yet both Newcastle goals have come from headers, and it's something that Eddie Howe is keen to make a big part of his game.
In a report from the iPaper, it's claimed that Newcastle insiders feel that Woltemade is “better than we thought he was” in the air.
Whether that means they bought into the fact that he's better playing with the ball at his feet, or he's even better than his height would suggest, we're not sure, but we're sure we'll find out as the season goes on.
