Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has criticised Eddie Howe’s decision to play Nick Woltemade as a midfielder for Newcastle United.
Woltemade made an impressive start to his career at Newcastle following his £69 million move from Stuttgart last summer, scoring six goals in his first 11 appearances.
But the 24-year-old has found the net just once in 19 appearances in 2026 and in recent weeks, he has played in a central midfield role with Anthony Gordon playing as a striker.
Woltemade, who has now been called up to Germany’s squad for their upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana, was also left on the bench for both of Newcastle’s Champions League last-16 games against Barcelona this month.
After announcing his Germany squad on Thursday, Nagelsmann took aim at Howe’s decision to play Woltemade as a midfielder and claims the forward is simply too far from goal to make an impact.
‘In a quieter setting he’s a super pleasant guy with a good wit, great sense of humour, I think he’s a really great character who is always in a good mood and always radiates a lot in conversations,’ Nagelsmann said.
‘He’s undoubtedly had a difficult time at Newcastle, no doubt, but that’s normal too.
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‘I also tried to play him in his role. I also think that what I said was interpreted too negatively. He did well for us but in a role that no one would have thought of six months ago, or rather, in the six months before the World Cup qualifiers because many other players were injured.
‘He can play from the start but he can also play a good role as a substitute because he already has an unorthodox playing style with his size and technique, and I think if you look at his record with us he has very good memories with the national team recently and is extremely happy about it. I believe it will help him too.
‘And when assessing Newcastle, I think you simply have to look at the whole issue. Yes, he’s not currently a striker in the squad, so [Anthony] Gordon basically scores everything and he [Woltemade] sits out the last two top games.
‘He’s not a striker who plays consistently there and that takes something away. Eddie Howe has obviously decided, without me knowing any more details, to simple swap his strikers and that’s his right, he should do it as he wants and what he thinks is right. It’s not my problem at all, I’m just trying to evaluate the player within the overall structure and if there were three strikers who always played I would be significantly more worried than Newcastle’s current set-up where the strikers are constantly being rotated.
‘Lately, and this is just my opinion, judging him alone he’s often played very deep and when he’s defending as a double pivot, it’s quite a long way for Nick to cover. If he wants to get towards goal it’s very unlikely he will score because he’s not a class counter-attacking striker who can sprint at 36 km/h to outrun the opponent, that has to be said.
‘And then if he’s 80 metres away from the goal, I think as a British journalist you can’t expect him to score 20 goals there because the distance is simply too far. Yes, it depends a bit on the overall situation. What I can promise is that he is rarely 80 metres away from the goal. I will try to move him closer to 30 metres away from the goal and then he’s already dangerous and will do many things well.
‘I think very highly of him as a person too. He is not someone who puts a lot of thought into it. Nevertheless, the situation is obviously disturbing, I think that it’s normal that he would prefer things to be different but I think that’s normal. New culture, new league, new language, you might have learned that in school but it’s all new, new city.
‘It also took time in Stuttgart, not even registered for the Champions League for the first half of the year [last season] then scored seven goals in the second half. Yes, I have total trust in him and I also give him the necessary patience, everything will be alright.’
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