While Newcastle United’s intense fixture schedule denies Nick Woltemade of much training time, he will have come up against his teammates behind the scenes.
Woltemade has made a brilliant start to life at Newcastle United, one few could have seen coming when he first arrived at the club from Stuttgart.
As Alexander Isak and the players Newcastle initially targeted to replace him struggle, the German’s goal tally currently stands at seven goals in 18 games.
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Indeed, the most expensive signing in Newcastle United history is surely one of the standout additions of the summer across the whole of the Premier League, though he does have some competition.
Fellow German Malick Thiaw has equally impressed and Woltemade has rightly been talking up his compatriot.
Nick Woltemade says Malick Thiaw is horrible to play against
Thiaw has been one of Newcastle’s best players this season, making a remarkable start to life on Tyneside following a move from AC Milan.
The 24-year-old has made a mockery of the initial £30million fee the club paid to sign him from AC Milan, arguably looking like a player worth more than double that at times.
Though fans are yet to see the best of Newcastle’s summer signings, Thiaw and Woltemade have been the standouts.
Such has been the impact Thiaw has made behind the scenes, Woltemade believes his international teammate is simply “unpleasant” to play against.
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Asked about his teammate by Sky Sports Germany, Woltemade said: “He’s unpleasant to play against.
“He’s fast, he’s robust, he’s very, very clever. He prepares well for his opponents and knows what to expect.
“You can see that he’s also spent three years going through the Italian school as a centre-back. That’s why it’s fun, because he’s also good with the ball, plays a lot of good passes. That’s why it’s so much fun to play alongside him.”
Malick Thiaw is the right kind of horrible for Newcastle United
You only need to look at Newcastle’s win over Manchester City late last month for a prime example of what Woltemade is talking about.
Thiaw completely shut Erling Haaland down during that game and at one point produced a fine tackle to deny the Norway star as he threatened to run through on goal.
Even offensively, Thiaw can cause opponents problems. He went close to scoring a header against Marseille before scoring two of them against Everton a few days later.
Newcastle have unearthed a gem here, even if Thiaw looked like a slightly underwhelming addition when he first arrived at the club.
Without Woltemade and Thiaw, the Premier League table would look even worse for Newcastle right now.