Nick Woltemade’s place at Newcastle United is under speculation as Atletico Madrid reportedly show interest in the Germany international.
Nick Woltemade’s future at Newcastle United has been the subject of ongoing speculation after reports in Spain suggested the Germany international was ‘on the market’ during the summer transfer window.
The former Werder Bremen forward joined the Magpies from Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart in a club record move last summer and made a promising start to life on Tyneside. Woltemade marked his United debut by grabbing the only goal of a home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers before also netting against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Brighton and Hove Albion to make it four goals in his first five Premier League appearances.
A Champions League goal against Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise only heightened the enthusiasm surrounding Woltemade – but the goals became increasingly hard to come by as the season wore on and he ended his first year on Tyneside with 11 goals in 51 appearances in all competitions. One constant theme of the second half of the campaign was a discussion over the forward’s best role within Eddie Howe’s side as he featured in midfield and as a ‘number ten’.
Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has questioned Howe’s use of Woltemade after naming the Magpies star in his squad for this summer’s World Cup finals.
Speaking last month, he said: “He’s not a classic counter-attacking striker. At Newcastle, he’s often 70 metres away from goal, which makes it difficult for him to get into the box He often initiated things out wide, and then the ball was in the box so quickly that he could no longer get there himself. You have to get him closer to goal.”
Speculation over his long-term future increased as the final weeks of the season approached – and that forced Howe to answer questions over what could lie ahead.
‘Name of the summer’
When asked if Yoane Wissa and Woltemade would be at St James Park next season last month, the Magpies boss replied: “Yes, I do. It’s difficult for me to give absolute certainty to that because the players themselves will have a big say in that as well. But my wish is that they are both here.
” On Woltemade in particular, he said: “I have said so many times, I really value and really like him. We are working really hard with him to help him. We will continue to develop his game, and I think he’s got a really bright future here.”
Despite Howe’s comments, a report from Spanish news outlet AS has claimed Woltemade is available and revealed Atletico Madrid are one of ‘several clubs’ monitoring his situation – although they are only said to be keen on a loan deal. Intriguingly, Premier League rivals Aston Villa are also suggested as an interested party and the report states Newcastle will look for a fee of around £56.3 million before agreeing to a deal.
Borussia Dortmund are also said to be ‘waiting’ to see how the situation develops and the report rounds off by claiming Woltemade is set to become one of the ‘names of the summer’.