Look closely and you’ll see the first shoots of success springing from the St. James’ Park turf. Newcastle United started the season poorly, but then the same happened last year.
How did the 2024/25 campaign turn out for Eddie Howe and his men?
Newcastle’s win over Brighton in the Premier League on Saturday was more than just three points. It signified tenacity and togetherness, with captain Bruno Guimaraes striking at the eleventh hour to lift his team toward the top half of the table.
With the signs of success also found out on the continent in the Champions League, there’s just cause for optimism, alright, with the physical and mental parts of the battle both favouring the Magpies as they start to find form.
Those two facets are both sides of the same coin, and it is something Nick Woltemade has embraced since joining from Stuttgart for a club-record £69m before deadline day. He’s been brilliant, but Howe and technical director Ross Wilson are already considering another striker.
Newcastle planning move for new striker
Newcastle didn’t just add Woltemade to their squad this summer. The saga linking Yoane Wissa to Tyneside was of a higher profile, raging throughout the summer and lacking clarity. Wissa wanted to go; Brentford wanted to keep him. It was balanced on a knife-edge.
Typical, then, that the DR Congo international has yet to feature or even get up to speed in full training, injured on international duty shortly after completing his deadline-day £55m move.
Wissa, 29, is recovering well, due to return in two or three weeks. He could feature before the November international break, but Howe has intimated a desire to give the goalscoring recruit a pre-season of his own, and so he could make his bow against Manchester City on November 22nd.
The fine form of Woltemade across the opening weeks of the term eases the need for rapid integration. Woltemade, 23, has already scored six times for United, so elegant and intelligent. Newcastle have got bang for their buck (despite what some envious rivals might think).
Still, with the uncertainty around Wissa and the struggles for attacking fluidity, as a whole, this year, Wilson has reportedly registered Newcastle’s interest in Porto striker Samu Aghehowa, who faces an uncertain future in Portugal.
According to Spanish sources, the 21-year-old is attracting interest from Newcastle, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur after his prolific start to life with Porto, with the Iberian outfit for a little over a year.
The report suggests that while the Magpies’ ability to invest may be limited in January, they ‘aren’t ruling out entering the bidding’ for the in-demand striker, should the opportunity arise.
Valued at €100m (about £88m), Samu clearly wouldn’t come cheap, but he’d be worth the investment, one of the most potent young strikers in Europe.
What Samu would bring to Newcastle
Samu might be young, but he was coveted by Chelsea in 2024 before that move fell through, and he wound up at Porto. He is well regarded as one of the most exciting attacking talents out there, and his track record in the final third suggests he could provide Newcastle with an even greater goal threat than Woltemade is offering.
This year, the Spain international has posted nine goals from 11 matches. This after a 27-goal campaign in his maiden year away from home soil.
Woltemade, too, knows something of hitting the ground running in a strange land, but for all the German’s exquisite link-up play, he might not quite have the same prowess and hunger in front of goal as the 6 foot 4 Samu, who has been described as an “absolute powerhouse” by analyst Ben Mattinson.
Porto
56
36 (3)
Recre Granada
36
18 (0)
Alaves
35
8 (1)
Granada
1
1 (0)
Wherever he goes, goals are scored. Though Samu may be a touch more one-track-minded than Woltemade in his attacking approach, there’s little question that he is an expansive striker, with elements to his game. After all, you cannot be laden with holes and described as having “everything it takes to be one of the best strikers in Europe” by journalist Zach Lowy.
This is further corroborated by Samu’s underrated passing game. Data from FBref reveals that, while he is among the most prolific goalscorers in Europe, he also ranks among the top 10% of positional peers for pass completion, the top 14% for through balls, the top 8% for switches and the top 13% for goal-creating actions per 90.
Like Woltemade at Newcastle, the Spaniard is a jack of many trades, and there’s a sense when watching him in action that he might actually be the superior goalscorer besides.
Sofascore show the incremental progress that may have been made in this regard. Samu scored 19 times in the Liga Portugal last term, and he missed 18 big chances across the year. We may be early into the new campaign, but he has bagged himself six goals in 2025/26 while fumbling only two golden opportunities in the final third.
Woltemade is a brilliant up-and-coming striker, but four converted and missed big chances apiece in the Premier League this year show where he needs to sharpen his game.
Howe could actually strike a wonderful balance with both Woltemade and Samu in the Toon mix, the contrasting elements of each man piecing together a new synergised quality at number nine in Newcastle.
What’s not to like? Newcastle plan to attack the many forks in a season’s road time and time again over the coming years. Both have their strengths.
But in terms of goals, Samu might just prove an upgrade on Woltemade, maybe even rivalling the very best across Europe.
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