Woltemade was one of the headline transfers of the summer of 2025. In top form with Stuttgart, the 23-year-old German was close to joining Bayern Munich, but ultimately pulled out due to his club’s escalating demands. Newcastle seized the opportunity and paid €75 million (£65m) to secure his signature.
It’s a huge fee for a striker who had scored 17 goals and provided three assists in 33 matches across all competitions. Having become an international, Woltemade arrived late in the transfer window and started strongly, netting four goals in his first five Premier League games.
Since then, he’s only managed three more. In the Champions League, he’s stuck on a single goal, scored against Union Saint-Gilloise on matchday two.
A role to reinvent
Woltemade remains a starter, but Howe no longer consistently plays him as a number nine. Against Qarabag in the play-offs, he was used as an attacking midfielder. His stats were unimpressive: no goals, no assists, even though Newcastle scored nine times.
In the league against Everton and in the FA Cup against Manchester City, he played behind the striker. Between those two games, he had to withdraw from the squad to face Manchester United. Of the three matches, that was the only one Newcastle won.
His situation is often compared to Joelinton, who was bought for €43.5 million (£40m) from Hoffenheim in 2019 as a striker, before Steve Bruce moved him back into a double pivot.
Woltemade has been overtaken up front by Anthony Gordon, a winger who’s regularly played centrally and is thriving in the Champions League with 10 goals (including four in the first leg against Qarabag) and two assists in 10 games.
With debate raging over how best to use him, the German needs to deliver a standout performance in the round of 16 to win over the Magpies’ fans and dispel the doubts surrounding him.
Facing Barcelona is undoubtedly the perfect stage to make his mark, especially with the World Cup approaching. It’s also his last chance this season to prove he’s a bankable player—a status that could quickly fade if he doesn’t bounce back.