Report highlights big issue Eddie Howe is having with Nick Woltemade at Newcastle United right now
Newcastle United broke their transfer record this summer to sign 23-year-old striker Nick Woltemade, who had rapidly risen up the ranks in German football.
Going from the third tier to the Bundesliga, finishing as the tournament's top scorer in the Under 21 European Championships this summer, to becoming Germany's senior striker in just a couple of years, it has been a meteoric rise for Nick Woltemade.
A move to the Premier League probably seemed inevitable, but many pundits raised an eyebrow when Newcastle brought him over this summer, and for such a huge fee.
Thankfully, Woltemade doesn't seem to have been affected by the scrutiny and even scored a goal on his Premier League debut to announce his arrival in the English game.
Nick Woltemade's style makes him more suited to a Number 10 role
Unfortunately, Woltemade hasn't been able to add to his goal tally since then, but that's not really been his fault. He's not had a consistent run in the side, and the Magpies haven't exactly been firing on all cylinders at the top end of the pitch.
Perhaps more of an issue is that Woltemade's style is very different to any centre-forward Newcastle have had, with many claiming he plays more like a Number 10 than an out-and-out striker, which is something that Eddie Howe has acknowledged, but given Newcastle doesn't play with a 10, he's focused on turning Woltemade into that striker the club desperately needs.
This is, however, where the problem lies, according to Craig Hope in the Daily Mail. Due to Newcastle's hectic fixture schedule with the Champions League involvement, time on the training pitch has been very limited, which is making it difficult to give Woltemade the time and attention he needs.
Newcastle players partook in a spot of extra training after the Bradford game at St James' Park
The lack of training time was very apparent on Wednesday evening when, long after the full-time whistle had blown in the game against Bradford, Graham Jones had a group of players back out on the pitch running shooting drills.
A lack of goals has been Newcastle's biggest problem this season, so it makes sense that the coaches will take any opportunity they can to get some practice in.
Hopefully, there'll come a time when Eddie Howe can get Nick Woltemade onto the training pitch to work on turning him into a Premier League striker.
