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Naglesmann 'bothered' by Woltemade Newcastle struggles and questions Howe's use of record signing
Suraj Radia
- Updated: 19 Mar 2026 22:24 GMT
- 5 min read
News
Germany manager Julian Naglesmann has questioned Newcastle’s use of Nick Woltemade and admits the striker’s situation ‘bothers him’ ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Woltemade became Newcastle’s record signing last summer after a €75 million move from Stuttgart but, despite scoring five times in his first eight appearances, the forward has been using as a deep midfielder by Eddie Howe in recent weeks.
Current ETV
Nick Woltemade
F, M (C)
Newcastle
Nick Woltemade
F, M (C)
Newcastle
ETV Range
€68.4M - €83.6M
The new role has led to speculation over Woltemade’s future on Tyneside but Naglesmann assured the 23-year-old that his role would not change for Germany and that he could not be expected to thrive in his current position.
"Lately, and this is just my opinion, judging him on his own, 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," Nagelsmann said.
"If he wants to get towards goal, it's very unlikely he'll score, because he's not a classic counter-attacking striker who can sprint at 36 km/h to outrun the opponent. And then, when he's 80 metres from goal, I don't think, as a British journalist, you can expect him to score 20 goals, because the distance is simply too great.
"Yes, it always depends a bit on the overall situation. What I can promise is that he's rarely 80 metres away from the goal for us. If we have a game where we're 80 metres away from the goal, he won't play. I try to get him closer to 30 metres from the goal, and then he's dangerous and does a lot of things well.
"I think very highly of him as a person. He's not someone who overthinks things. Nevertheless, the situation bothers me, of course. I think it's normal that he'd prefer things to be different, but I think that's normal.”
Naglesmann supportive of Woltemade and Newcastle despite decline in form
Woltemade has struggled during the second half of the season for the Magpies and he has only scored once in his last 21 matches, having been moved to a deeper role due to unconvincing performances up front as well as an injury crisis in midfield.
However, Nagelsmann insisted Howe was within his rights to utilise Woltemade as he wished and that he does not hold anything against the Newcastle manager for tweaking his team to try and get the best results.
“When assessing the whole situation at Newcastle, I think you simply have to look at the overall picture,” Nagelsmann said. “Yes, he's not currently a striker in their squad. Anthony Gordon, who basically scores everything, has a lot of goals, but he still sat out the last two big games.
"He's not a striker who consistently plays and takes his place, but rather, Howe has obviously decided, without me knowing any more details, to simply swap his strikers, and that's his right, he should do what he wants and what he thinks is right. It's not my concern at all.
"I'm just trying to evaluate the player within the overall context, and if there were three strikers who always played, I'd be significantly more worried than I am about Newcastle's current setup, where the forwards are constantly being rotated."
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