Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade has been labelled the ‘worst-ever Premier League signing’ after his undwhelming begin to life within the English top-flight.
Woltemade joined Newcastle for £69 million from Bundesliga side Stuttgart, fresh off a formidable campaign with Germany on the European Under-21 Championship, where he scored six goals in five games.
The 24-year-old was tasked with replacing the attacking output of Alexander Isak, and made an encouraging start at Newcastle with five goals in his first 10 appearances.
Nevertheless, his form has dipped over recent months, with Woltemade scoring only once in 17 games in 2026 and even finding himself deployed further back in central midfield in recent weeks.
And Eddie Howe’s unwillingness to have Woltemade leading the road has led talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham to suggest the German is a contender for the worst ‘pound-for-pound’ signing within the league’s history.
‘Nick Woltemade, I’m going to say this – is the worst signing in Premier League history. This isn’t anything against him, it isn’t personal – I hear he’s a superb teammate,’ he said.
‘But £65-70million for considered one of those, and we’ve got to delve deeper. I used to be in Newcastle the opposite night for the Qarabag game, the tie was done, so it was a probability for players to shine, and it was an evening Newcastle had a free hit. Their expensive striker needs goals, and he starts in central midfield.
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‘Now, that is possibly because he doesn’t trust him up front. He didn’t play well in central midfield. Eddie Howe said he didn’t play well in central midfield, saying it’s the least he’s affected the sport since he arrived on the club.
‘Is he a nine? No. One goal in 18 games just isn’t a nine. Is he a midfielder? No, definitely not. Is he a ten? Have a have a look at the number tens across the Premier League. Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes. Morgan Gibbs-White, etc.
‘There are higher number tens within the Championship than Woltemade. Two Premier League assists all season, and when did Newcastle play with a ten? They aren’t going to tear up that three-man midfield to place Woltemade at ten.
‘Let’s get this right. He’s a footballer, he’s got talent. But he has not got a spot within the Newcastle United team, and I feel that’s the elemental flaw here.
‘It’s not about him as an individual, it’s not about him as a player even. Nevertheless it’s the best way Newcastle play, the very fact they needed to switch Isak, Howe is putting him all around the park trying to seek out a spot for him.
‘£70m and he hasn’t even got a spot within the team? That’s your big signing. That’s a joke signing. So pound-for-pound, for what a team needed and what he brings, I make Woltemade the worst-ever Premier League signing.’
Durham’s comments come only days after Newcastle legend Alan Shearer suggested that Woltemade’s style was becoming an ‘issue’ for Howe.
‘Clearly Woltemade is a difficulty for Newcastle,’ Shearer told Premier League Productions.
‘Because the cash they spent on him, near enough £70m, then deciding to play Gordon as a centre-forward tells you he’s not quite been what they thought he might be in that position.
‘They’re attempting to work out what’s best for him. Is he a No.10? Probably not. They fight and play him in additional of a midfield role, well, you see he can’t press, because he hasn’t got the legs, he hasn’t got the energy to do what Eddie Howe’s teams have done which have made Newcastle successful over time.
‘They usually’re still understanding and determining the way to get the very best of Woltemade because his game, his stature, his pace of play just isn’t suited to what Newcastle have done in being successful under Eddie Howe with the energy.
‘When Newcastle were at their highest, Newcastle were going after teams and pressing and never giving them any time to play in anyway, but he [Woltemade] can’t do this.
‘That tells you he’s [Howe] playing a winger in a centre-forward position that he has a difficulty in there.’
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