'I felt it': Nick Woltemade could feel the tension around Newcastle United when he arrived amid Alexander Isak anger
Newcastle United had an impossible task in the summer to replace Alexander Isak as the club's main striker, as it became clear that the Swede had no future at the club.
Alexander Isak went on strike and went about nuking any goodwill he had with the club to force through a move to Liverpool, leaving Newcastle no choice but to shop for a replacement.
The Magpies tried hard all summer to bring in strikers, but their top targets all opted for other clubs. In the end, Newcastle made a desperate move to sign the Under-21s European Championships top scorer, Nick Woltemade, from VfB Stuttgart for a club-record-breaking fee.
The move happened really quickly, and at the same time, Newcastle were working on bringing in Yoane Wissa, giving Eddie Howe two options up top with the plan being to rely on Wissa in the main while giving Woltemade time to adapt to his new surroundings, but an injury to Wissa meant the German had to be thrown in at the deep end. To everyone's surprise, he swam rather than sank.
Nick Woltemade didn't realise how much the Alexander Isak situation had affected NUFC until he arrived
The goals have dried up for the big German of late, but we'll never forget that start he made at the club, especially in the wake of such a turbulent summer.
Speaking to British GQ., Woltemade has spoken about what he knew about the situation when he arrived, and how he didn't realise how bad things were until he arrived at the club.
“Of course, I knew that there was something going on about Isak. But honestly, in England people just care about English football and in Germany, it is the same.
"So I was not realising that the situation was so hard. But I felt it directly when I came. People were so happy that they got a new striker.
“I went to an away game (Leeds) as a spectator and the fans went crazy! They all ran into me and sang songs about me. Of course, I knew there was pressure because I came for a lot of money. But I liked it.”
There's a disconnect between Newcastle's style of play and Nick Woltemade's
There's a clear chasm between how Eddie Howe wants to play and Nick Woltemade's preferred style of play, which has led to reports that the Magpies may move him on after just one season.
We're not sure that the club will be that drastic. With a full pre-season of training, Howe and Woltemade can work together to come up with a way to get the best out of him.
The season was already underway when Woltemade arrived, and the schedule has never let up since week one, so they haven't had time to fully work things out. We hope the club don't give up on him so soon.
