Woltemade left Newcastle to join Juventus on a season-long loan deal earlier this year

Nick Woltemade's club record move to Newcastle United came too soon but he could still make a success of his stay on Tyneside under Matthias Jaissle when he returns from his loan spell at Juventus.

That is the view of former Liverpool, Tottenham and Germany defender Christian Ziege, who believes Woltemade left Stuttgart too early when he made the £69million move to St James' Park.

Woltemade initially hit the ground running, scoring nine goals in his opening three months at Newcastle. But the goals quickly dried up and there were question marks over his suitability for the Premier League and Eddie Howe's Magpies side.

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Howe moved him into a midfield role and then used him as a number 10 in order to try and get the best out of him but it was an experiment that ultimately did not pay off.

Jaissle succeeded Howe in the dugout and had similar struggles during pre-season and the opening weeks of the campaign and he was eventually shipped off on loan to Juventus.

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He has had mixed fortunes in Turin, too. He is yet to score a goal in eight Serie A appearances but he has recorded a goal or an assist in all four Europa League matches for the Old Lady this term.

Thursday saw him dropped from the Germany squad by Jurgen Klopp and Ziege feels it is a 'pity' the way things have panned out for the 24-year-old but he has not given up hope on him returning to Newcastle and making a success of his move.

"It's a bit of a pity for Woltemade," Ziege told Boyle Sports. "Matthias Jaissle is a fantastic coach who proved himself in Austria and Germany. Woltemade is another example of a player who had one good season at Stuttgart before moving straight to Newcastle and it looks like it was too soon.

"Performing consistently for three seasons before a big move is very different from moving after just one. The Premier League is tough for strikers, and things didn't quite work out for him there.

"Now he's on loan at Juventus and Serie A can be even tougher for strikers. Perhaps he should have stayed to work under Jaissle at Newcastle, but if he returns from loan to work with him later, it could be a different story.

"Let's hope that everything is going in the right direction for both Woltemade at Juventus and then maybe later for Newcastle."