Nick Woltemade plan goes public as Eddie Howe backs £69m signing - Report

Nick Woltemade's first season in English football has been a mixed bag since his £64 million move to Newcastle United.

Newcastle made a what was seen by many to be a desperate move when they brought in Nick Woltemade in the summer for £64million (rising to £69 million with add-ons).

The Magpies had struggled all summer to bring in a striker, and the Woltemade swoop seemed to come out of nowhere. However, coming off the back of finishing as the Under 21 European Championships top scorer, he came with plenty of excitement.

His initial impact was huge, scoring four goals in his first five games and looking like an entirely different prospect up front to what we've had before at the club, but soon the goals dried up, and questions started to be asked.

Woltemade to stay? 

It got to the point where there were plenty of reports suggesting that Woltemade would be sold just one year on from his arrival, but The Telegraph believes that this will not be the case.

Luke Edwards reports that Eddie Howe wants to keep the 6ft 6' forward on Tyneside, believing he will be in a far better position to thrive next term after a season of acclimatisation.

The Telegraph also state that Woltemade has done enough in training to show that he's learning the demands of the English game and can adapt, while his goal against West Ham on Sunday certainly didn't hurt.

It's expected that Woltemade may be deployed in a deeper role; however, rather than leading the line, he'll be asked to play behind the main striker, which is where many have said he looks like he belongs.

Howe backs Woltemade to improve next season

Eddie Howe has spoken about how he believes Woltemade can adapt to the Premier League game, too, and it now looks as though he'll be given the chance to do so.

We've said all season that with time on the training pitch, he will improve. The season was already underway when Woltemade arrived, and given Newcastle's involvement in the Champions League, Eddie Howe never had a full-blooded training session with his players until the new year, after their cup involvements were over, which was too little too late.

Woltemade offers Newcastle a different dimension; we've just not been able to fully capitalise on his unique skillset because of the lack of training, so we expect to see a greatly improved player next season.