Nick Woltemade branded worst signing in Premier League history months after record Newcastle transfer

Nick Woltemade is the worst signing in Premier League history, according to Adrian Durham.

On the latest edition of Fiery Fridays, the talkSPORT anchor and stalwart labeled Newcastle United‘s record signing the worst ever.

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The German international arrived on Tyneside in the closing stages of the transfer window from Stuttgart for £69million.

He came in to replace Alexander Isak, who was on strike in an effort to force a move to Liverpool.

Woltemade then scored on his Premier League debut in a 1-0 win over Wolves with a towering header.

But lately, Eddie Howe has moved him into midfield to fill in for Bruno Guimaraes’ injury.

And in response to comments made by yours truly (me) on talkSPORT’s Inside The Toon show, Durham hit back.

Speaking on the talkSPORT Daily Podcast, our chief live football anchor said: “Nick Woltemade, I am going to say this – is the worst signing in Premier League history.

“This isn’t anything against him, it isn’t personal – I hear he’s a very good teammate.

“But £65-70million for one of those, and we’ve got to delve deeper.

“I was in Newcastle the other night for the Qarabag game, the tie was done, so it was a chance for players to shine, and it was a night Newcastle had a free hit. Their expensive striker needs goals, and he starts in central midfield.

“Now, this is possibly because he doesn’t trust him up front. He didn’t play well in central midfield. Eddie Howe said he didn’t play well in central midfield, saying it is the least he’s affected the game since he arrived at the club.

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“Now, on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, there is a programme called Inside The Toon, and it’s all things Newcastle United, and Jack Cunningham is one of the contributors.

“He said, ‘Newcastle should build the team around Woltemade’. Well, if Newcastle want to go down to the Championship that might be a brilliant idea. I do wonder what planet this guy is on.

“Is he a nine? No. One goal in 18 games is not a nine. Is he a midfielder? No, definitely not.

“Is he a ten? Have a look at the number tens around the Premier League. Morgan Rogers, Cole Palmer, Bruno Fernandes. Morgan Gibbs-White etc.

“There are better number tens in the Championship than Woltemade. Two Premier League assists all season, and when did Newcastle play with a ten? They aren’t going to rip up that three-man midfield to put Woltemade at ten.

“He has not got a place in the Newcastle United team, and I think that is the fundamental flaw here.

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“So, he hasn’t got a place in the team, and therefore, he is the worst-ever Premier League signing.”

Well that’s me told. But let’s put it into context…

Durham’s comments came in response to the following point: “He is someone you should build the team around,” I said on Inside The Toon.

“It probably would be as a number ten, eventually because with Stuttgart players were always close to him. If you get players close to him, we can see what he can do.

“There were a few times against Qarabag, even in the second half when he was getting frustrated and losing the ball, there were times where he is picking up brilliant little pockets of space, and we don’t find him.

“People are watching him and making him a scapegoat for things not working this season.

“You’ve got to accept that this is a £69million brilliant footballer, and you’ve got to find a way to get him in the team and work around it.

“There is this perception that because he’s 6ft 6, he should score a load of headers. If you watch him, you’ll realise that is not his game.”

Case for the defence

Newcastle at some point have to evolve if they are to be consistently a top side.

We see Arsenal and Manchester City play in different ways from game-to-game.

Both of those sides have a good mixture of technical and physical players, while the Toon have too many of the latter.

Woltemade is very much a technical footballer, you only have to look at his goal against Brighton, the penalty against Nottingham Forest and his second in the 2-2 draw with Chelsea to know that this guy has incredible technique.

There are other moments of pure genius as well that show, with the right structure, Newcastle would get the best out of Woltemade.

talkSPORT understands that the Magpies are willing to sell Woltemade in the summer, which would be a mistake.

Even if you don’t rate him, Anthony Elanga and Yoane Wissa have so far contributed a lot less than the 6ft 6ins German.

The likes of Antony, Nicolas Pepe, and Ali Dia are somewhere breathing an almighty sigh of relief if Woltemade is the worst-ever top-flight signing.

And forget about Premier League history, even just in Newcastle history, I can think of one signing who was far worse – Michael Owen.

Owen was the Toon’s record signing at the time, he spent the majority of it injured and never even wanted to be there.

Woltemade has embraced life on Tyneside in every way, and for that alone, he’s better than Owen.

Regarding finding a place for him in the team, that is on Howe because he is at St James’ Park now, and if you have to change the system to accommodate him, so be it because it would be a step in the team’s evolution.

He has the ability and vision to unlock defences because we’ve seen it, and ultimately, Newcastle will win more games with him in the side than without.

Woltemade probably won’t turn out to be the Isak replacement, but for a club-record fee, the club have a supremely talented player who will prove everyone wrong.

Starting with our very own Adrian Durham.