Woltemade shows Newcastle there is life after Isak

Twenty-nine minutes. That's all Nick Woltemade needed.

Not only to open his account for Newcastle United – but to be serenaded with his own chant after scoring on his debut against Wolves.

Woltemade went on to receive a standing ovation after the record signing came off midway through the second half of his side's 1-0 win.

His contribution was certainly timely as it was revealed post match that fellow new striker signing Yoane Wissa is likely to be out until after the next international break in October.

It is remarkable to think Woltemade only had a handful of training sessions with his new team-mates before his first appearance.

You would not necessarily have known it as he was pushed in front of the Gallowgate End by Joelinton to take the acclaim of the crowd after the game.

"I was just here for four days now, so everything was new for me," he told BBC Final Score. "I was putting that bit away and I was focusing on myself today.

"I think the coach already gave me such a good feeling, so I felt good on the pitch. I knew what to do and I guess you saw today everybody knew what they have to do."

How Newcastle needed someone to put the ball in the back of the net.

Howe's side had 34 shots in the opening three games of the season, but only had two goals to show for it after firing blanks against Aston Villa and Leeds United.

The Alexander Isak saga cast a shadow over the club after the Swede went on strike before completing his move to Liverpool.

Isak had already as good as left the building - training away from the rest of his team-mates - but Saturday marked the first game of this new era following his £125m switch to Anfield.

It was a little ironic, then, that there were one or two parallels between Woltemade's debut and Isak's first outing for the club in 2022.

Just as Isak was thrown in, at a time when Callum Wilson was sidelined, Woltemade was also handed his debut from the off after fellow new arrival Wissa suffered a knee injury.

Isak did not need long to make an impact after opening the scoring against Liverpool – of all teams – in the first half.

And Woltemade required less than half an hour to make his mark.

Woltemade may have 27 on the back of his shirt, a nod to his mother's birthday, but the new arrival opened his account with a classic number nine's goal.

Jacob Murphy scooped a cross into the box and Woltemade peeled away from Wolves defender Emmanuel Agbadou to power a header past Sam Johnstone.

Suddenly a new chant was born as "Woltemade, Woltemade, ole, ole, ole" rang around a raucous St James'.

Bullet headers were not necessarily how Woltemade made his name, though.

He may be 6ft 6in tall, but the German is not your typical target man and only scored a single header for Stuttgart in the Bundesliga last season.

"He's an unusual player," Howe said. "He's very distinctive. I think the more you watch him, the more you realise how different he is to the stereotypical size that he brings.

"[He's] very creative. We saw flashes of that today, little touches and passes that can really make a difference and open up a stubborn defensive line."

Digging deeper, this was an afternoon when Woltemade completed 89% of his passes.

One clever dink sent Harvey Barnes in down the left but the forward was flagged offside before Murphy put the ball in the net.

Match of the Day pundit Shay Given, who made 462 appearances for the club, was among those watching on, saying he was "interested to see the positions he takes up".

"There was a lot of talk before the game that he's more a number 10 than a nine," he said. "But I'm sure Eddie Howe and his staff will be saying 'Yeah, he's a good link-up player but with his size, you have to get the ball to him in the box'."

Interestingly, none of Newcastle's starters had fewer touches than Woltemade (20), but he made his presence count where it mattered most.

Woltemade had five touches inside Wolves' box. One of them ended up winning the game for Newcastle.

Woltemade was certainly in the right place at the right time.

The new arrival may like to link play, but Howe was acutely aware that "we won't want him to get himself out of goalscoring areas".

And the Newcastle head coach was the first to recognise that they still have "work to do with him".

Though Woltemade won three of his four aerial duels, physically he has "a lot to improve to get used to this level" Howe said.

But the will is there to do so.

Whereas Newcastle saw Hugo Ekitike, Benjamin Sesko and Joao Pedro opt to move elsewhere, Woltemade was determined to join the club from Stuttgart.

Woltemade did not exactly have much time to catch his breath, after jetting off for international duty, but he made it clear he "wanted to help the team and bring his qualities to the group".

As well as settling on the field, Woltemade has quickly taken to life off it, too.

He may have had a baseball cap on but such is his size, the new arrival has been spotted in the supermarket by supporters and taking a walk down the Quayside.

Rather than being overwhelmed by the passion of the club's support, though, Woltemade has rightly embraced it.

"It felt amazing," he said. "Just all the fans, everybody was happy, I was happy. Of course, right now if you've won the game that's more important also. I'm very happy about it."