Analysis: How will the addition of Woltemade change Newcastle United's attack?

The giant German that they call Wolte-Messi is coming to the EPL to replace Isak, can he do it?

Designed by Jamie Orrell

After a summer of failed attempts to land a striker, Newcastle United have signed 23-year-old German international striker Nick Woltemade (Vol-tuh-mar-duh) from VfB Stuttgart in a club record £69m deal.

Let’s look at what the 6’6” striker, nicknamed "Wolte-Messi", will bring to St James’ Park.

Background

Born in Bremen in 2002, Woltemade came through Werder Bremen’s academy and became their youngest-ever Bundesliga debutant in February 2020.

However, it was a loan spell at SV Elversberg in 2022-23, where he scored 10 goals, helped secure promotion, and was named 3. Liga Player of the Season, which jump-started his career.

Following a season coming off the bench at Bremen, Woltemade moved to VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer.

Having started the 24/25 season from the bench, Woltemade eventually broke into the first team, generally as the left-side striker in a front two, where he scored 17 goals & 3 assists across 2,138 mins (23.8 90s), helping the club to a DFB-Pokál triumph.

This form was enough to raise his profile within the German international teams, and Woltemade finished his 24/25 season as top scorer at the 2025 U21 Euros before making his senior Germany debut later in the summer.

Performances at VfB Stuttgart

This rapid ascension into VfB Stuttgart’s first team, his first senior appearances for Germany, has now been capped by a blockbuster transfer to Newcastle, a fairytale season.

But what is it about his game that convinced VfB Stuttgart and now Newcastle United that such an inexperienced player was worth the risk?

Well, to put it mildly, Woltemade has a unique profile for a striker. Despite being the sort of size you’d normally associate with a ‘target man’, Woltemade’s 🔴 playstyle has more in common with Alexander Isak 🔵 than your typical big guy up top.

As such, I intend to compare and contrast Woltemade’s with Isak’s as I will break down the traits, weaknesses and strengths in his game, which include:

1. 🙋‍♂️ Dropping deep to link-up play

2. 🏃‍♂️ High-level dribbling ability

3. 🤝 Creating chances for teammates

4. 🎯 Controlled finishing

5. 🤕 Inconsistent aerial threat

🙋‍♂️ Dropping deep to link-up play

Let’s start with a fairly obvious difference between Isak and Woltemade: how their athleticism influences the off-ball runs they make.

Isak’s underlying speed and skill made him a truly complete forward. He comes short, turns to dribble at the defence and runs in behind/the channels with equal effectiveness. It’s just one of the reasons Liverpool made him one of the most expensive transfers of all time.

Woltemade doesn’t have Isak’s acceleration and speed. While he’s not exactly slow, he’s hurting defences with high volumes of runs in behind or the channels. Instead, when played as a lone striker, Woltemade will drop off to primarily receive the ball centrally.

Woltemade’s ability to generate enough space between the lines to make him a viable passing option is genuinely up there with the best in the Bundesliga and one of the most interesting things about his profile.

Of all players in the 24/25 Bundesliga season, Woltemade ranked 3rd for Line Breaking Passes received (13.43 per 90), he was 2nd highest in the opposition half (10.56) and 3rd in the final third too.

He recorded more touches in the box (10.62 per 90) than any other player in the division and only famed Raumdeuter (roughly translates to “Space Investigator”) Thomas Müller matched him consistently across these metrics.

Woltemade’s tendency to drop towards the ball and play with his back to goal will change the nature of Howe’s attack. Woltemade’s strength and outstanding ability to pin defenders give Newcastle United a new type of platform to build attacks from 🔽

This change means there will be a greater onus on combination passes ⚫ into Woltemade’s feet, with Isak’s threat in behind being provided by passes 🔵 into the spaces defenders are forced to leave as they attempt to get close to the giant German.

While Woltemade’s chance creation numbers for teammates are very good (more on that later), his passing is an area of his game that needs to be developed and where his lack of experience shows.

In particular, he struggles with medium/long range passes 🟣 primarily because he often doesn’t put quite enough juice on them…🔽

Because of his tendency not to hit passes with pace, our expected passing model rates him just below average across the board. Having watched a lot of his buildup play now, it’s not a huge issue, but it’s an area where Howe’s coaching can take him to a new level.

So while he does do some target man-like things, it’s better to think of Woltemade as a deep-lying forward. A high-functioning facilitator that knits attacks together that might otherwise break down with a less technically able footballer.

🏃‍♂️ High-level dribbling ability

Normally, men of Woltemade’s size can be somewhat predictable for defenders, but any defender who gets too tight or backs off too much will find out why his nickname of “Wolte-Messi” is well earned, because his dribbling and technical ability are sensational.

It’s not just good for a “man of his size”, it’s just good full stop. Woltemade attempted to dribble past his man 2.72 times per 90 last season, completing 56% of them, with 8 successful take-ons in the box in just under 20 league games of minutes.

When it comes to carrying the ball, Woltemade tends to look to move the ball to more rapid players to lead counterattacks before rejoining the attack as it reaches its completion rather than travelling long distances with the ball himself.

While I expect that at Newcastle, Woltemade will be encouraged to carry the ball more vertically by Howe. I still think he’ll look for combinations that allow Elanga, Gordon or Ramsey to lead counters before arriving late in the box to complete the move. Either way, it’ll be fun to watch.

🤝 Creating chances for teammates

As you can see from the clips above, Woltemade’s ability to dribble out of the tightest of spaces affords him opportunities to play dangerous passes to teammates.

While he recorded 2️⃣ assists in the Bundesliga last season, he created 35 shots worth 4.35xG 🔽

But even this doesn’t tell a full story; across all players in the Bundesliga, Woltemade managed to complete more passes inside the box per 90 (1.21) than every other player in the league, beaten again by Müller.

With better quality teammates, the chances of Woltemade increasing the number of assists he records feel likely.

🎯 Controlled finishing

Another area of Woltemade’s game which is interesting is his shooting. For a big guy, he has a preference for a controlled, accurate, side-footed shooting as opposed to relying on power, even when the opportunity may call for a little more oomph.

The results of his preference for dropping deep and controlled finishing can be seen in his shot map.

Woltemade grabbed 10 goals from 7.22 xG from open play, in just under 20 games worth of minutes. While the shots come from high-value central areas, there’s a real lack of tap-ins and long rangers.

While I’d hope that Howe will develop his game to help him run up his goal-scoring numbers with some finishes on the goal line and more powerful attempts from long range, when chances in the area do come his way, he’s accurate, calm and efficient 🔽

How he adapts to implement his playstyle against the EPL’s faster, better defenders will be the key here. If he does add a bit more power, more often to his shooting, then defences won’t know what to do with him.

🤕 Inconsistent aerial threat

The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed that there was just the one headed goal from Woltemade on his league shot map (just headed shots version below), and it’s another area that needs to be developed if he is to become a truly unplayable threat for defences.

While there were some promising signs of development here towards the end of last season and at the recent U21’s tournament, Woltemade has a 50% HOPS heading model rating.

This means he’s only given a 50/50 chance of winning a header vs. the average player. While this might seem counterintuitive, for a guy of his height who wins 3.02 aerial duels per 90, Woltemade is often pushed around by his markers and struggles to make good, controlled contact with his head.

Conclusions

As such, between his need to develop his heading, his power shooting and bringing consistency to his passing game, Woltemade is definitely a calculated gamble for Newcastle United.

In many ways, Woltemade’s game is already in a similar mould to Joao Pedro, one of our targets from earlier in the window, or Roberto Firmino. One that keeps attacks moving with unselfish efficiency and lifts the output of teammates around them.

The bet that Newcastle have made (as they did with Isak) is that Howe will develop the areas of his game that need work, and the player will hit his high ceiling if all goes well, although I don't think he'll ever get 25+ goals a season in the EPL.

The addition of Wissa to ease pressure on the inexperienced German makes this more likely, and give Woltemade’s potential ability to play from the left wing too, it should mean he gets the minutes and time to settle into English football.

In my opinion, he’ll need more time to adapt than Isak - whose pace terrified defenders from minute 1 - but Woltemade’s size, frame, and technical ability, sharpened by the rigours of the EPL and training with the likes of Burn every day, is a tantalising prospect for the future.

Because with even just modest improvements in his game, he becomes a true pick-your-poison attacker for defences that will have to concede space elsewhere to deal with everything that Wolte-Messi can bring to the table.