Marco Silvaspoke about a big threat that Fulham have to shackle on the weekend.
Newcastle United lost Alexander Isak on deadline day for a British record fee of £125 million. But they had pre-emptively moved for a replacement, spending a club record £69 million on Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade. A 6’6” lanky attacker, there were visible similarities to the Swedish striker.
However, Woltemade is a different profile of central forward: his carries, creativity, link-up play and neat flicks are unusual for a man of his frame and he is learning to be more ruthless in the final third.
So far, it has been a successful alliance. Even if the Toon have struggled for consistency, Woltemade scored in his first three Premier League games at St. James’ Park, pulled off a beautiful backheel equaliser against Brighton, and was a key figure in the 3-0 victory against Benfica in the Champions League.
“Very good striker, very good striker. They had, last three seasons, an unbelievable striker, too. It’s not something new for them. It is a good sign, for them as a football club. When they lose a great striker – because Liverpool spent that amount of money on him – that means recruitment, and they did it well.
“They went for a slightly different style: to spend the money they spent on him and the impact that he has had straightaway, I think is very good. One is slightly different, probably not so aggressive in the space like Isak was, much more a player linking the play. And, of course, inside the box he can score.
“He showed already that inside the box he can score in many different ways. The game against Brighton is a good example, the way he was able to finish in that way and score in that way.
“He’s a very good one – the way sometimes he can be the extra midfielder and he’ll come to link their game and support for them to beat the first pressure. Inside the box his profile is a very good one.”
