Last season, Nick Woltemade became weaponised in a proxy war between a section of Newcastle’s online fanbase and Eddie Howe.The German, so the argument went, was being misused by the head coach. Those who suggested the problem ran deeper – that Woltemade simply was not suited to the Premier League, and certainly not to Newcastle – were caught in the crossfire.Today, the club’s £69million record signing will join Juventus on a season-long loan for £3.5million, with no obligation or option to buy. That would have been barely believable when he joined the Magpies from Stuttgart just 12 months ago.He made an impressive start, too. He scored the winning goal on his debut and, from his first six shots on target, he found the back of the net with each of them. Efficient or unsustainable? The suspicion was always the latter, and so it proved.As Daily Mail Sport noted at the time, Woltemade looked like the missing piece in the jigsaw for someone else’s puzzle. A talented player with bags of charisma, but one who did not have the tools to survive and thrive in the Premier League.Or, as one club source put it this week: ‘He was just caught in the wrong movie.’ Nick Woltemade made the perfect start to his Newcastle career – scoring on debut against Wolves (pictured) – but it proved to be a false dawn He is a talented player with bags of charisma, but one who did not have the tools to survive and thrive in the Premier LeagueThere is no ill-will towards Woltemade. Not from inside the club, his team-mates, supporters or observers. One insider describes him as a ‘diamond of a guy’. Howe loved his sense of humour, especially when he kept him entertained during a crawl through Marseille rush hour ahead of a Champions League press conference in November.However, there has long been an acceptance among the hierarchy that this was a panicked signing at an inflated fee. That reality became apparent during a run of 25 matches after his early scoring burst in which he managed just three goals. Not without justification, his supporters reasoned that Newcastle were not playing to his strengths. He was surrounded by under-performing wingers and he became isolated as a central striker in a team with no No 10.There was sympathy internally, too. But that began to fade as the weeks and months wore on. Woltemade was not doing enough to help himself, in training or matches. Some felt he was hearing the outside noise and believing it to be true – that he was the victim of tactical shortcomings.The nadir came at Manchester City in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final in early February. After 20 minutes, coach Graeme Jones screamed at him to play higher up the pitch. Minutes earlier, with City’s high defensive line there to be exposed, he came short for a pass on halfway in front of their centre backs. He did not have the pace or the want to run in behind. He is not that player. Yet, in that moment, you knew that the notion of Woltemade as a Premier League striker had expired. He was taken off at half-time after just 11 touches and no efforts on goal.Ten days later, Howe used him in midfield in an FA Cup tie at Aston Villa and he scored in a 3-1 win. For a brief period, it felt like a solution had been found. The midfield experiment, though, soon ran aground. He did not have the intensity, legs or aggression and his performance in a 3-2 home defeat by Everton in late February, in which he was taken off 10 minutes into the second half, all but marked the end of that misadventure.As respected supporter website nufc.com noted: ‘Unless he’s in the opposition box, he’s no threat to them and no use to us.’ Eddie Howe experimented with playing Woltemade in midfield, but he did not have the intensity, legs or aggression for the role One of the low points of his disappointing first season came when he scored a decisive own goal in the Tyne-Wear derbyIt was telling when Woltemade was then an unused substitute for both legs of the Champions League last-16 exit to Barcelona, before a surprise start at No 10 in the 2-1 derby defeat by Sunderland at St James’ Park. That 65-minute performance was too reminiscent of the others in different parts of the pitch – too passive and not enough penetration. Even his touch became loose. Perhaps that was a by-product of confidence that had long since evaporated.After a summer at the World Cup and the arrival of fellow German, Matthias Jaissle, as Newcastle manager, there was a renewed sense of optimism. It did not last. From the first pre-season friendly, it was clear that Woltemade was even less of a fit for the way Jaissle wanted to play.By now, even his staunchest backers had lowered their arms. There was no fight left in them and, seemingly, precious little in Woltemade. There remains a very good footballer in there. But, for Newcastle, his best position was always likely to be this – somewhere else.