Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe praised striker Nick Woltemade for the way he approached his move to the club.

Woltemade joined the Magpies from Stuttgart for a reported £74.3m (€85m) as a replacement for Alexander Isak, who joined Liverpool in British record deal on deadline day.

The 23-year-old has scored five goals and registered one assist in 12 Premier League games so far, while also finding the back of the net once in the Champions League.

Ahead of their fixture against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday, Howe revealed his joy at how Woltemade has adjusted to life in Newcastle.

"He has done brilliantly, just a great person, a good character," said Howe on Woltemade.

"It is difficult to come in and do what he has done. He has fitted the team ethos.

"He has British humour, he came in with a really good way of approaching a transfer. He immediately came in, felt at home and made people laugh.

"He has gone in wholehearted to the Newcastle way of life, and tried to help us in all the way we can. That will stand him in strong stead in the long term."

The previous meetings between Leverkusen and Newcastle came in the 2002-03 Champions League campaign, with the Magpies winning 3-1 both home and away against them that season (group stage, second round).

However, Newcastle are winless in their last three games against German sides in European competition (D1 L2), with both of those defeats coming under Howe: 0-1 at home and 0-2 away versus Borussia Dortmund in the 2023-24 Champions League.

A lot of pressure was placed on Woltemade due to his transfer fee, with some of that noise coming from Germany, but the striker is excited to return to his native country to face Leverkusen.

"It's really nice. I'm really excited to come back to Germany," said Woltemade.

"I already feel at home in Newcastle too, but if I'm honest, coming to your home country again it's always feeling good. Very happy to be here, played some games with my old teams.

"A lot of people speak about me. And if I always listen to what they're saying, I can't focus on myself anymore. I don't read it, I just focus on myself.

"That helps me to be the best, and at the end of the day, I'm not deciding what someone is paying for me, but I'm happy that Newcastle is paying this for me because I'm really happy now I'm at Newcastle."