{"id":1810,"date":"2026-02-28T17:37:42","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news678.top\/?p=1810"},"modified":"2026-02-28T17:37:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T17:37:42","slug":"newcastle-star-labelled-worst-ever-premier-league-signing-after-alan-shearer-claim-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=1810","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle star labelled ‘worst-ever Premier League signing’ after Alan Shearer claim | Football"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t<\/div>Newcastle boss Eddie Howe (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade has been labelled the \u2018worst-ever Premier League signing\u2019 after his undwhelming start to life in the English top-flight.<\/p>\n
Woltemade joined Newcastle for \u00a369 million from Bundesliga side Stuttgart, fresh off an impressive campaign with\u00a0Germany\u00a0at the European Under-21 Championship, where he scored six goals in five games.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
However, his form has dipped over recent months, with Woltemade scoring just once in 17 games in 2026 and even finding himself deployed further back in central midfield in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
And Eddie Howe\u2019s unwillingness to have Woltemade leading the line has led talkSPORT presenter Adrian Durham to suggest the German is a contender for the worst \u2018pound-for-pound\u2019 signing in the league\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u2018Nick Woltemade, I am going to say this \u2013 is the worst signing in Premier League history. This isn\u2019t anything against him, it isn\u2019t personal \u2013 I hear he\u2019s a very good teammate,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018But \u00a365-70million for one of those, and we\u2019ve got to delve deeper. I was in Newcastle the other night for the Qarabag game, the tie was done, so it was a chance for players to shine, and it was a night Newcastle had a free hit. Their expensive striker needs goals, and he starts in central midfield.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t<\/div>Nick Woltemade has struggled recently for Newcastle (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u2018Now, this is possibly because he doesn\u2019t trust him up front. He didn\u2019t play well in central midfield. Eddie Howe said he didn\u2019t play well in central midfield, saying it is the least he\u2019s affected the game since he arrived at the club.<\/p>\n
\u2018Is he a nine? No. One goal in 18 games is not a nine. Is he a midfielder? No, definitely not. Is he a ten? Have a look at the number tens around the Premier League. Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes. Morgan Gibbs-White, etc.<\/p>\n
\u2018There are better number tens in the Championship than Woltemade. Two Premier League assists all season, and when did Newcastle play with a ten? They aren\u2019t going to rip up that three-man midfield to put Woltemade at ten.<\/p>\n\n
\n\t\t\t<\/div>The German was signed as a replacement for Alexander Isak (Picture: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u2018Let\u2019s get this right. He is a footballer, he\u2019s got talent. But he has not got a place in the Newcastle United team, and I think that is the fundamental flaw here.<\/p>\n
\u2018It\u2019s not about him as a person, it\u2019s not about him as a player even. But it\u2019s the way Newcastle play, the fact they needed to replace Isak, Howe is putting him all over the park trying to find a place for him.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u00a370m and he hasn\u2019t even got a place in the team? That\u2019s your big signing. That\u2019s 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.\u2019<\/p>\n\n
Durham\u2019s comments come only days after Newcastle legend Alan Shearer suggested that Woltemade\u2019s style was becoming an \u2018issue\u2019 for Howe.<\/p>\n
\u2018Clearly Woltemade is an issue for Newcastle,\u2019 Shearer told Premier League Productions.<\/p>\n
\u2018Because the money they spent on him, near enough \u00a370m, then deciding to play Gordon as a centre-forward tells you he\u2019s not quite been what they thought he could be in that position.<\/p>\n
\u2018They\u2019re trying to work out what\u2019s best for him. Is he a No.10? Probably not. They try and play him in more of a midfield role, well, you see he can\u2019t press, because he hasn\u2019t got the legs, he hasn\u2019t got the energy to do what Eddie Howe\u2019s teams have done which have made Newcastle successful over the years.<\/p>\n
\u2018And they\u2019re still working out and figuring out how to get the best of Woltemade because his game, his stature, his pace of play is not suited to what Newcastle have done in being successful under Eddie Howe with the energy.<\/p>\n
\u2018When Newcastle were at their very best, Newcastle were going after teams and pressing and not giving them any time to play whatsoever, but he [Woltemade] can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
\u2018That tells you he\u2019s [Howe] playing a winger in a centre-forward position that he has an issue in there.\u2019<\/p>\n
For more stories like this,\u00a0check our sport page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
![\"Manchester](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2262401477.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
\t<\/div>![\"MANCHESTER,](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/SEI_286215744-6e7c.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646\")
\t<\/div>![\"Newcastle](\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2263457395.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=594\")
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