Newcastle United’s summer transfer window revolved around one question: who would replace Alexander Isak?
The Swedish striker’s inevitable move to Liverpool would leave a gaping hole in Eddie Howe’s attack, and the club spent the entire summer working to secure a replacement.
Newcastle chased Liam Delap, Hugo Ekitike, João Pedro and Benjamin Šeško, but all proved out of reach.
Longstanding interest in Wolves’ Jørgen Strand Larsen and Brentford’s Yoane Wissa also seemed destined to fail as neither club was willing to negotiate.
But in the final days of the window, Newcastle pulled off two significant deals.
They signed Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade for a club-record £69m before finally landing Wissa for £55m after the player drove through the night to push the transfer over the line.
Those two arrivals may yet define the Magpies’ summer.
With Jacob Ramsey, Malick Thiaw, Aaron Ramsdale, and Anthony Elanga also joining, Newcastle have strengthened in multiple areas.
But the focus will be firmly on how the new strike force adapts to life after Isak.
What Woltemade and Wissa will bring to Newcastle
At 23 years old and standing 1.98m tall, Woltemade represents the future.
He arrives from Stuttgart on the back of a breakthrough Bundesliga campaign, scoring 12 goals in 28 appearances and earning three senior caps for Germany.
His performances at the U21 European Championships underlined his potential – strong in the air, technically assured, and capable of linking play as well as finishing chances.
Wissa, meanwhile, brings Premier League pedigree. He scored 19 goals and registered five assists in 35 appearances for Brentford last season, cementing himself as one of the division’s most underrated forwards.
Across his Premier League career, he has 45 goals in 137 appearances – a proven track record Newcastle badly need.
Statistically, the pair offer different strengths. As per FBref, Woltemade’s 50% shot-on-target rate last season was higher than Wissa’s 45.6%, but Wissa contributed more goal involvements overall (23 compared to 14).
Wissa also presses with intensity, recording more tackles per 90 than his new teammate, while Woltemade excels at progressing the ball, registering 4.38 shot-creating actions per 90 compared to Wissa’s 2.13.
Both will be expected to share the goalscoring burden left behind by Isak.
Wissa’s immediate impact will be crucial – especially with Anthony Gordon suspended – while Woltemade may be bedded in gradually as he adjusts to the Premier League.
One issue looms: Wissa could miss a significant stretch of the season in early 2026 due to the Africa Cup of Nations. That makes Woltemade’s development even more important.
Former Magpie is now outscoring them all
While Newcastle reshape their frontline, one former striker of the turbulent Mike Ashley is quietly enjoying a renaissance.
Ayoze Pérez, who joined the Magpies on a £1.5m deal from Tenerife in 2014, made 195 appearances for the club, scoring 48 goals and registering 17 assists.
He was one of the few bright sparks during the disastrous 2015/16 relegation campaign, then played a key role in Rafa Benítez’s promotion-winning side and their re-establishment in the Premier League.
His performances even “impressed” Alan Shearer, who praised the Spaniard’s impact in his debut season when he scored seven league goals.
Pérez eventually left Newcastle for Leicester City in 2019, with Ashley and co raking in a £30m fee, and later moved to Real Betis in 2022.
But it was his switch to Villarreal in 2024 that reignited his career.
Last season, he scored 19 goals and added two assists in 30 La Liga matches, earning a surprise call-up to the Spanish national team where he made his debut in a 5-0 win against Andorra.
In all competitions, he scored 22 times in 2024/25, eclipsing the totals that both Wissa (20) and Woltemade (17) achieved across all fronts for their respective former clubs.
That is what makes his story particularly interesting for Newcastle fans – how his output compares with their new arrivals.
Statistically, he remains effective: Pérez averaged 3.33 progressive passes per 90 and 3.26 shot-creating actions per 90 – more than both Wissa and Woltemade.
A pass is considered progressive if the distance between the starting point and the next touch is at least 10 meters closer to the opponent’s goal or any completed pass into the penalty area.
He also recorded more progressive carries per 90 (2.69) and showed his defensive contribution with 1.23 tackles per 90.
Matches Played
30
35
28
Goals
19
19
12
Assists
2
4
2
Progressive Carries
59
60
31
Progressive Passes
73
67
52
In many ways, Pérez’s revival mirrors Joselu’s late-career success in Spain after his underwhelming Newcastle stint.
Both strikers have shown that Tyneside was just one chapter in their stories, not the defining one.
Where Are They Now
For Newcastle, the challenge now lies in ensuring that Woltemade and Wissa not only carry the weight of Isak’s departure but also measure up to the legacy of strikers of the past.