Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has explained why Nick Woltemade has become a fringe player for his side in recent weeks ahead of the trip to Arsenal.
The Magpies paid £69 million to sign the 24-year-old from Stuttgart last summer. Woltemade has 10 goals in 47 appearances for the club since then.
The German was named on the bench against Crystal Palace and AFC Bournemouth, having been deployed out of position in midfield since February amid an injury to Bruno Guimaraes. Woltemade last played as a starting striker in the league against Manchester City on February 21.
Why Nick Woltemade hasn’t been playing for Newcastle United
With the Magpies struggling, large parts of the fan base have been frustrated to see their big money talisman not named in the starting XI. Woltemade netted four goals in his first five Premier League outings, including a strike against Arsenal.
Ahead of making the trip to the Emirates Stadium this weekend, Howe was asked why Woltemade has not been playing. He said: “It’s difficult because our centre-forwards have been productive for us. Anthony Gordon played up front against Chelsea and Sunderland and was scoring as the number nine.
“Now, Will Osula has come in and he’s scored as the number nine. It’s difficult, you have to award players for what they deliver and I’ve gone for a different option to Nick – there’s no problem on his fitness. When he plays he has to do the same and deliver the goals that we need.”
Eddie Howe searching for Newcastle United players to ‘step up’
Howe has had to juggle Premier League football with Champions League outings and cup fixtures for the majority of this campaign. However, with his side now dumped out of all of those tournaments, all focus is on the division.
That should mean less rotation of the front line. Howe said: “It’s been difficult this year. We’re never going to have a stable team because of the amount of games that we played, with the run we had playing every three days, there would always be rotation. It’s very difficult to play the same players continuously.
“I think that was healthy for us at stages because everyone was involved and playing a part in our success. Now we’re playing week to week, we can have a more stable team, but we haven’t performed to our best levels so I’m searching for players who want to step up and play every week by performing at their best levels.”
In other news, What James Trafford did in Carabao Cup final should trigger Newcastle United transfer.
