Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has criticised Eddie Howe’s decision to play Nick Woltemade as a midfielder for Newcastle United.
Woltemade made a powerful begin to his profession at Newcastle following his £69 million move from Stuttgart last summer, scoring six goals in his first 11 appearances.
However the 24-year-old has found the online only 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 as much as Germany’s squad for his or her upcoming friendlies against Switzerland and Ghana, was also left on the bench for each 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 just too removed from goal to make an impact.
‘In a quieter setting he’s an excellent nice guy with wit, great sense of humour, I feel he’s a very great character who’s all the time in mood and all the time radiates lots in conversations,’ Nagelsmann said.
‘He’s undoubtedly had a difficult time at Newcastle, little 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 job that nobody would have considered six months ago, or fairly, within the six months before the World Cup qualifiers because many other players were injured.
‘He can play from the beginning but he may play role as an alternative because he already has an unorthodox playing style along with his size and technique, and I feel if you happen to have a look at his record with us he has superb memories with the national team recently and is amazingly pleased about it. I consider it should help him too.
‘And when assessing Newcastle, I feel you just have to have a look at the entire issue. Yes, he’s not currently a striker within the squad, so [Anthony] Gordon principally scores every part 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 easy swap his strikers and that’s his right, he should do it as he wants and what he thinks is true. It’s not my problem in any respect, I’m just trying to guage the player throughout the overall structure and if there have been three strikers who all the time played I could be significantly more apprehensive than Newcastle’s current set-up where the strikers are continually being rotated.
‘Recently, and that 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 good distance for Nick to cover. If he desires to get towards goal it’s not possible he’ll rating because he’s not a category counter-attacking striker who can sprint at 36 km/h to outrun the opponent, that needs to be said.
‘After which if he’s 80 metres away from the goal, I feel as a British journalist you’ll be able to’t expect him to attain 20 goals there because the space is just too far. Yes, it depends a bit on the general situation. What I can promise is that he is never 80 metres away from the goal. I’ll try to maneuver him closer to 30 metres away from the goal after which he’s already dangerous and can do many things well.
‘I feel very highly of him as an individual too. He shouldn’t be someone who puts quite a lot of thought into it. Nevertheless, the situation is clearly disturbing, I feel that it’s normal that he would like things to be different but I feel that’s normal. Recent culture, latest league, latest language, you may have learned that in class but it surely’s all latest, latest city.
‘It also took time in Stuttgart, not even registered for the Champions League for the primary half of the yr [last season] then scored seven goals within the second half. Yes, I even have total trust in him and I also give him the crucial patience, every part might be alright.’
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