Eddie Howe and Newcastle United ridiculed for Nick Woltemade transfer fee – A few reminders | OneFootball

I am seeing a lot of ridicule flying around, after Eddie Howe and Newcastle United saw their offer for Nick Woltemade accepted by Stuttgart.

Why should we be surprised?

After all, it is the norm for the media to to try and undermine pretty much any Newcastle United move, especially when it comes to signing players.

The transfer fees paid by United for the likes of Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey similarly reported as Newcastle paying over the odds for players.

Funnily enough, this doesn’t appear to apply to other Premier League clubs and their signings, despite what we are all seeing.

The reality is that this summer 2025 transfer window is smashing all records, loads more cash spent on players by the 20 Premier League clubs than ever before.

The Premier League has never been so dominant when it comes to money, more money spent on players this summer by the 20 PL clubs, than all the clubs combined in Ligue 1, Serie A, La Liga and the Bundesliga.

The vast financial advantage enjoyed by English clubs has gone to a whole new level, one of the factors contributing, is that the new TV deals have leapt again. This 2025/26 season the start of the new cycle for the Premier League, domestic TV deals have risen again due to far more live matches given to Sky Sports, whilst the really big new increase is due to the new overseas TV deals kicking in for Premier League clubs.

Nick Woltemade, Benjamin Sesko and Hugo Ekitike

The Athletic (as well as Sky Sports and others) say that their information is that Newcastle United have agreed to pay £65m guaranteed plus £4.3m in future add-ons, a total of £69.3m for Nick Woltemade.

Benjamin Sesko was widely reported to have cost Manchester United a guaranteed £66.3m plus £74m in future add-ons, a total of £73.7m.

Before that, Hugo Ekitike reported to have cost Liverpool a guaranteed £69.0m plus £10.0m in future add-ons, a total of £79.0m.

Spot the difference

Funnily enough, I can’t remember hearing much, if any, ridicule over what Man U and Liverpool were paying for Sesko and Ekitike respectively. Instead it was all about what brilliant young prospects these two forwards are, how these clubs had been able to make such great signings ahead of poor old Newcastle United. Nowhere can I remember seeing it made a big thing of, that Liverpool and Man U had been forced to pay significantly more for their respective signings due to what Newcastle United had been prepared to pay.

I guarantee you that if this had been Man U or Liverpool buying Nick Woltemade, then the spin from the media would have been very different, overwhelmingly positive instead of negative, the transfer fee not held up for ridicule.

The dominant club in Germany by far is Bayern Munich. The usual process in the Bundesliga is that once players, especially homegrown, have proved themselves at other German clubs, then Bayern step in and take the star players off these domestic rival clubs.

Bayern Munich clearly saw Nick Woltemade as the natural longer-term successor to Harry Kane and had made three bids this summer. In Germany it was seen as a formality the 23 year old would go to Bayern but Stuttgart refused to be bullied, dictated to. Not allowing Bayern Munich to get Woltemade on what they believed to be less than his value. Bayern Munich now widely reported to have been shocked to find Newcastle United swoop and take him away, from under their noses.

Three of a kind

The reality of course is that these three strikers had very similar profiles. Unproven in the Premier League, young forwards who have scored a good number of goals for their Bundesliga clubs but not outstanding.

Premier League clubs largely paying these figures of £69m to £79m purely on potential.

At international level, 22 year old Benjamin Sesko is a regular for lowly ranked Slovenia.

Hugo Ekitike is 23 and has five appearances at under 21 level but hasn’t even ever been called up for the senior France squad, never mind getting a game for them.

Nick Woltemade has played twice for the Germany senior side and scored 13 goals in 18 appearances for the Under 21s, including finishing top scorer with six goals at this summer’s Under 21 Euros finals.

The soon to be announced Newcastle United striker is expected to start for Germany in one or both of their World Cup group qualifiers next week.

So in this massively inflated transfer window and how much serious cash so many other players are going for, including Sesko and Ekitike, exactly how much should a very promising young striker be costing who will be playing for Germany and who Bayern Munich were desperate to sign???

A few Eddie Howe reminders

How the media reacted to a few other Eddie Howe signings at the time…

£12m paid for Kieran Trippier – The 31 year old defender coming to Newcastle only for the money, going to put his feet up and Eddie Howe conned into paying so much for a player in his twilight years.

£13m for Dan Burn – A few months away from turning 30, how much for this journeyman defender??? Hilarious.

£41.25m (£35m plus £6.25m future add-ons) for Bruno Guimaraes – Bruno who? Never heard of him. So he must be rubbish. How much has Eddie Howe paid for him???

£25m for Chris Wood – How much for a 30 year old Burnley striker? Very average anyway and set to get worse as he gets older.

£45m (£40m plus £5m add-ons) for Anthony Gordon – How much for this scouse scally? Ridiculous money for the little he has achieved.

£63m (£59m plus £4m add-ons) for Alexander Isak – Unbelievable, he only scored six goals in La Liga last season (2021/22) and Eddie Howe paying all that. How much money are Newcastle going to lose on him???

£38m (£32m plus £6m add-0ns) for Tino Livramento – A 20 year old who has hardly kicked a ball the last year due to a serious injury, massive over the top money on somebody who has done so little.

£28m for Lewis Hall – An 18 year old who had made only nine Premier League appearances and Eddie Howe committing NUFC to paying all of that after a year on loan. What is he thinking???

There have been others as well, both Sven Botman and Nick Pope outstanding signings by Eddie Howe, especially their respective transfer fees. Harvey Barnes a very solid good signing, Lloyd Kelly an outstanding profit made!

Looking though at those I have detailed above.

Eddie Howe signed England international Kieran Trippier for £12m and what a signing he has proved to be.

Eddie Howe signed Burn, Hall, Livramento, Gordon and they have all became England internationals!

Bruno Guimaraes is now first choice for Brazil, Chris Wood did a superb job at Newcastle in an unselfish role (helped save NUFC from relegation with 29 points gathered in his 15 PL starts in 2021/22) and then shown outstanding goalscoring for Forest in his 30s.

All of these players detailed above, turning out to be inspired Eddie Howe signings who have been magnificent for Newcastle United.

Who would bet against Jacob Ramsey ending up in the England squad. Who would bet against the likes of Thiaw, Ramsdale, Elanga and…Nick Woltemade proving Eddie Howe right, yet again?

As for that £63m wasted on Alexander Isak, whatever happened to him…?