Nick Woltemade Joins Juventus as Newcastle Seeks New Striker

Nick Woltemade is pulling on black and white stripes in Turin now, not Tyneside. But he has not left Matthias Jaissle’s mind for a second.

The Newcastle United head coach watched the German forward complete his loan move to Juventus this week and made sure his compatriot knew exactly where he stood.

Jaissle told him he had his fingers crossed for him. Woltemade, he said, “deserves to be playing and performing well”.

“I really appreciate Nick as a player for his quality on the pitch but, also, I appreciate him as a human being and his quality off the pitch,” Jaissle said. “We always had good conversations, really honest conversations. He desired to take another challenge in a top league as well with a top club.

“We will monitor him and look and see him quite closely. I'm really curious how he's doing and I'm really optimistic he will shine there.

“He will score a lot of goals there, for sure. He's still our player so we will stay in close contact.”

While one striker headed out, another finally arrived.

Fernandez-Pardo era begins

Deadline day at Newcastle became a tale of two forwards. As Woltemade left for Juventus, long-term target Matias Fernandez-Pardo walked through the door in a £51.4m move from Lille.

This is the kind of attacker Jaissle has been waiting for. Rapid, direct, and flexible enough to play across the front line, Fernandez-Pardo fits the high-tempo, aggressive style the German wants to impose. His versatility gives Jaissle the option to tweak systems and shapes depending on the opponent without losing pace or threat in behind.

There is a catch. The 21-year-old has not played a full 90 minutes for some time. The Premier League’s relentless physicality will not cut him any slack.

So patience will be required, at least at the start.

“We have followed him for a long time,” Jaissle said. “Also I did before I joined Newcastle because he's an outstanding player.

“For his age, there's a lot of potential and I'm looking forward to supporting him to fulfil that.”

One forward trying to prove himself in Serie A, another about to be unleashed in England. Newcastle’s attack looks different now. The question is how quickly it can start firing.