Eddie Howe has insisted Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa still have a “big part” to play in Newcastle’s run-in — despite leaving the £119million strike duo rooted to the bench for both legs of the Champions League humbling against Barcelona.
The Magpies were blown away 8-3 on aggregate by the Spanish giants in the last 16, with the tie effectively over after a brutal first leg at the Camp Nou. Yet even with the game slipping away, Howe kept his two big-money forwards in his pocket.
No minutes. Not a sniff.
It’s a decision that raised plenty of eyebrows, especially given the sheer weight of cash splashed on the pair last summer. Woltemade and Wissa arrived amid huge expectation after the club sanctioned the British record £130m sale of Alexander Isak to Liverpool.
But fast forward to March, and both find themselves looking in from the outside.
Wissa was meant to be the ready made replacement. The 29 year old had just bagged 19 Premier League goals for Brentford and looked a natural fit. But within a week of signing, he was crocked on international duty with DR Congo, a posterior cruciate ligament injury that kept him out until December.
Woltemade, signed off the back of a breakout season in Germany, was thrown straight in. And for a while, it worked. He hit the ground running, his 10 goals keeping the ship steady. But since Wissa’s return, the 24 year old has managed just three more. Wissa himself has only three goals all season and hasn’t started a game since the defeat to Brentford back on February 7.
Howe has even resorted to deploying Woltemade in midfield at times, a move that’s drawn mixed reviews at best.
So when the big European nights came calling, the pair were left watching on as Anthony Gordon and Will Osula got the nod ahead of them.
Asked directly about the snub, Howe offered a measured defence but made clear he doesn’t see the two forwards as a package deal.
“Every player wants to play the biggest games,” he said. “I think Nick’s had a lot of football this year and Nick just off the back of playing against Chelsea, and I thought he played really well, so I think they’re in different circumstances. I wouldn’t put them necessarily together.
“Of course, Yoane’s had a big injury and I’ve said many times here, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet. Hopefully, that will come. I think, as I say, I’d look at them independently rather than together.
“I think they’ve both got big parts to play in the close of this season. We’ve got eight games to go, eight massive games for us.”
And that’s where the focus now shifts. Newcastle’s European dream is done. The cups are gone. All that’s left is the Premier League and a desperate scramble to salvage something from a season that promised so much more.
Howe’s side sit ninth, seven points off the top five and three adrift of the top seven with eight games remaining. It ain’t impossible. But it needs a strong finish, starting Sunday with a Tyne Wear derby against Sunderland at St James’ Park.
The reverse fixture ended in a 1-0 defeat on Wearside. Lose this one, and the mood around Tyneside turns toxic pretty quickly.
For Woltemade and Wissa, the next eight games represent a chance to remind everyone why the club spent a combined nine figures on their services. But with Howe admitting he’s yet to see the best of Wissa and Woltemade’s form having cooled, the clock is ticking.
The manager, for his part, is hoping a return to a normal training rhythm with no midweek European distractions might just spark his squad back into life.
“We’ve been used to playing every two, three, four days, relentlessly,” Howe said. “The players have handled that really well, I have to say, in every way.
“But now we’re going to a different phase. Playing once a week will be slightly strange for us to train again, with big numbers. It will be really enjoyable, actually, and we’ll look forward to getting back to that when we can.
“We hope that will help our performances back into the Premier League and we can finish the season strongly.”
Stronger than they started it, anyway. For two strikers with a combined £119m price tag, the next two months will define whether they’re seen as part of the solution or an expensive mistake Howe couldn’t trust when it mattered most.
