Newcastle United land long-term target Nick Woltemade BUT for less €€€ than German media claim | OneFootball

Some great insight on Newcastle United reaching agreement with Stuttgart on the signing of Nick Woltemade, ahead of Bayern Munich who had seen three offers rejected.

Chris Waugh of The Athletic giving some excellent background (see below) to the deal.

The man from The Athletic explaining that far from being a last gasp desperate target, Nick Woltemade has been a long-term target for Eddie Howe and Newcastle United BUT one that they didn’t think was possible, until recent days.

It all sounds a little like the ongoing Alexander Isak and Liverpool saga.

As the dominant club in Germany, Bayern Munich believing they would be able to force a sale of Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart on the cheap.

Only for Newcastle United to outdo them, to sign a young striker who Bayern Munich were clearly seeing as the long-term successor to Harry Kane.

Interesting as well to have clarity on the transfer fee.

I think this has been a blow to German media and the German football public, losing one of their best homegrown young stars to another league. A bit like we saw when United took Sandro Tonali away from Serie A.

So, the German media and football fans over there, wanting to believe a case of Newcastle United prepared to pay crazy money in desperation.

Therefore feeding that need, over in Germany the claim is that the Nick Woltemade transfer is a deal for €90m (approx £78m) in total.

Whereas Chris Waugh states that his reliable sources state that the actual figure is €75m plus €5m in add-ons (£65m plus £4.3m).

Chris Waugh of The Athletic – 29 August 2025:

‘Heading into the final full week of the window, Newcastle United were still scouring Europe for a striker.

Nick Woltemade had long been discussed internally. But after Bayern Munich had three bids for the 23-year-old rejected, Newcastle were under the strong impression just a week ago that he was not for sale, that it was a non-starter.

The view inside Newcastle is they have finally gone head-to-head with an elite club and won. Bayern wanted Woltemade, admittedly not at the price-point being paid, but he is Tyneside-bound, not Munich-bound, and Newcastle believe the striker is enthused to be joining.

It required a fee of €75m plus €5m in add-ons (£65m plus £4.3m) — which according to those on Tyneside is the figure agreed, rather than the €90m total package claimed at the German end, which makes Woltemade the most-expensive player in Newcastle’s history, topping Isak, who cost £63m in 2022. That seems high for a player with such inexperience, though the striker market is incredibly shallow and prices are inflated.