Nick Woltemade offers Newcastle United hope from Germany camp

Nick Woltemade joined Newcastle United for a club record deal last summer that could see VfB Stuttgart land £69m for the German international.

After an impressive start to life as Newcastle's new striker, the German's goals dried up, and his overall performance levels dipped.

It was a harsh reality check for the German hotshot, who was never meant to lead the line for Newcastle so soon. The Magpies brought in Yoane Wissa to be the plug-and-play option up front, but an injury forced Eddie Howe to take drastic action.

Eddie Howe experimented with different ways to use the forward with little luck. After being knocked out of all the cup competitions, Howe was able to get his players into proper training sessions, and Woltemade started to improve again as a result.

Big Bick looks back on debut season 

Next season will be the ultimate test for Woltemade after a full pre-season with the team, but the 24-year-old hasn't let this season get him down.

In a new interview with CBS Golazo this week, the German international has clearly taken a glass-half-full approach to his first season in England.

"It's the best preparation you can have because it is the hardest league.

"We have played Champions League and a lot of Premier League games too. It can't be harder, especially athletically - it has helped me a lot because you have more sprints, more duels, and you always have to be in the moment because the league is so hard.

"And that helps me a lot. I started with a lot of goals and had good games."

Reflecting on a season that's resulted in reports linking him with a move back to the Bundesliga, Woltemade sounded like a man determined to stay and prove himself in the Premier League.

"There were difficult periods for me also, but in the last games I was getting better.

"For my first season, I think I am fine, I scored some goals as well and had good movements.

"You could see in my games I developed, and I also had the quality to be a good player in this league."

Woltemade can still come good 

We're glad that it looks like Newcastle are ready to stick with Woltemade beyond this season, despite fears that the club could cut their losses.

If Woltemade has a positive World Cup, that will send him back to Newcastle in good spirits, and then a good pre-season with the new-look team will see him be a different player next season; we're almost certain of it.

Part of the problem is that with every striker we sign, we're almost looking for the next Alan Shearer, and Nick Woltemade certainly isn't that. He's something completely different, and we should be embracing his differences rather than trying to squash him into our mould.