When Alexander Isak finally completed his British-record £125 million move to Liverpool on deadline day, it was the inevitable conclusion to a saga that had dragged across an entire summer.
Newcastle fought to keep their crown jewel, but the pull of Arne Slot’s rebuild and the allure of Anfield under the lights proved too strong.
The Swede leaves St James’ Park with his reputation enhanced and with numbers that underline just what a loss he is to Eddie Howe. Since his £63 million arrival from Real Sociedad in 2022, Isak scored 62 goals in 109 appearances in all competitions.
That tally included decisive contributions in Newcastle’s Champions League return and the pace, composure and movement that made him one of the Premier League’s most feared forwards.
Replacing that is no small task.
Newcastle’s solution was not to go like-for-like but to go double. In came Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart and Yoane Wissa from Brentford, deals worth £65 million and £55 million respectively.
Neither player arrives with the profile, star power or instant recognition of Isak, but together they represent Newcastle’s attempt to replace their departed talisman in the aggregate, in true Moneyball fashion.
Woltemade is the more intriguing of the two.
At just 23, he was one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe this summer. Bayern Munich circled before Newcastle made their decisive move, luring him from Stuttgart with the kind of fee that underlines how highly they rate him.
His breakout 2024/25 Bundesliga campaign produced 17 goals in 33 appearances, helping Stuttgart secure European football. He followed that up with a star turn for Germany at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where he won the Golden Boot with six goals.
What makes Woltemade such a compelling signing is that he doesn’t conform to the traditional expectations of a striker of his size. At 6ft 6ins, it is easy to assume he is a penalty-box battering ram.
But those who watched him closely in Germany know that he is something different: a deft, almost languid centre-forward whose first touch and close control allow him to operate as a fulcrum rather than just a finisher.
Stuttgart built much of their attacking play around his ability to occupy defenders, bring midfielders into the game and then spin into space himself. He is as comfortable receiving with his back to goal as he is drifting wide to link play, a style that has drawn comparisons to Dimitar Berbatov in his pomp.
That does not mean Woltemade will replace what Isak gave Newcastle.
The Swede’s devastating acceleration over the first few yards, his ability to run channels and his knack for producing a goal out of nothing are not qualities Woltemade can replicate.
What he does offer, however, is a different dimension. He provides the physical presence Newcastle often lacked and his link play has the potential to make life easier for the likes of Anthony Gordon, Harvey Barnes and Anthony Elanga.
If Isak was the spearhead, Woltemade may be the glue.
Alongside him, Wissa arrives with more proven Premier League credentials, albeit at a hefty price - £55 million for a player who will turn 29 before his debut raised eyebrows.
But Wissa’s 2024/25 season was impossible to ignore. He scored 19 goals in 33 league appearances for Brentford, a career-best return that placed him among the Premier League’s most reliable finishers.
Wissa offers Newcastle something closer to the Isak mould.
He is quick, direct and his movement across the front line is intelligent and difficult to track. He thrives on running off the shoulder of defenders and exploiting space in behind, attributes that should mesh neatly with Howe’s preference for vertical transitions.
While he is unlikely to match Isak’s ceiling in terms of individual brilliance, his knack for being in the right place at the right time makes him a valuable goalscoring outlet.
Wissa’s 19 goals were only four fewer than Isak’s Premier League tally in the same season, despite operating in a Brentford team that created significantly fewer chances.
The question, then, is whether Woltemade and Wissa can combine to replace Isak’s impact. This is where the Moneyball concept of “replacing in the aggregate” comes in.
When Billy Beane’s Oakland Athletics lost Jason Giambi in the early 2000s, they didn’t find another MVP; they found three players whose combined output compensated for the hole he left.
Newcastle’s strategy with Isak feels similar. They know there is no single player on the market who offers the same blend of pace, finishing and star power. But between them, Wissa and Woltemade cover almost all the bases.
Wissa’s speed and penalty-box sharpness go some way to filling the void left by Isak’s ruthless finishing. Woltemade’s hold-up play and creative instincts give Newcastle a new layer of attacking variety, a different way to break teams down when the explosive runs are not available.
Meanwhile, Brentford finished in the top half of the Premier League table for only the second time in no small part thanks to Wissa’s goals, which consistently arrived in high-leverage moments.
Together, then, Newcastle’s new recruits do not look like a desperate scramble. Instead, they look like the product of a deliberate plan.
The Magpies may have concluded that spreading Isak’s responsibilities across two players not only reduces risk but also broadens the team’s attacking palette.
No longer will Newcastle be as reliant on one individual to carry the scoring burden; instead, they can present opponents with a dual threat, with different skill sets and different ways to hurt them.
Of course, there are risks.
Wissa must prove that his 2024/25 purple patch was not an outlier. And Woltemade must adapt to the faster, more physical demands of English football. If either struggles, the Isak deal will look like a body blow rather than a clever recalibration.
But if both settle, Newcastle could discover that losing their star striker has inadvertently left them with a deeper, more unpredictable forward line.
Isak’s departure will still sting. Watching him in Liverpool red, leading a rival’s attack, will never be comfortable for those who cheered his every goal at St James’ Park. Yet Newcastle’s recruitment has ensured that the conversation is not about decline, but about evolution.
Replacing Isak directly was impossible. Replacing him in the aggregate might just make Newcastle stronger.
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