Now Nick Woltemade is heading to Tyneside, we can read out the summer final scores. Premier League 2 Bayern Munich 0, after Florian Wirtz recently described his decision to choose Liverpool ahead of Bayern – which profoundly shocked many in Germany, not least the perennial champions themselves – as “taking the more difficult option” in order to best develop his talents.
Woltemade, rather than waiting for a move to Munich next summer, has followed his international colleague in taking the plunge. The Germany No 9 shirt beckons at next summer’s World Cup and the man who will presumably be filling that role at St James’ Park is prepared to seize his opportunity.
When a player takes the high-speed elevator in the Bundesliga, it is usually stopping at only one destination. Bayern weren’t just looking at him as cover for (and an eventual successor to) Harry Kane. There was real belief among the club’s hierarchy that Woltemade had the tools to complement the England captain, playing just off him and helping – in the short term – to cover for the absence of Jamal Musiala, who could be out until Christmas after the serious injury he sustained at the Club World Cup. Their vision for him is a huge compliment to his talent.
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Bayern could not get their heads around Stuttgart’s demands. They began the summer quoting Bayern €100m (£86.5m) but even when it felt as if they might accept around €70m, Bayern never got close. Their final offer is thought to have been around the €50m mark. Either way, nowhere near what Newcastle were prepared to pay, after which “football in Germany is left breathless”, as Mario Krischel wrote in Kicker.
It is a calculated gamble for Newcastle but even if they are paying the higher figure widely quoted in the German media – a guaranteed €85m rising to €90m with bonuses – it feels like money better spent than it would have been on Jørgen Strand Larsen, with Woltemade two years younger and with clearly a higher ceiling. Stuttgart’s sporting director, Fabian Wohlgemuth, and chief executive, Alexander Wehrle, who have played this smartly, had their position strengthened by Woltemade’s demeanour. He had made plain that he wanted to join Bayern, agreed on the parameters of a contract with the Bundesliga champions and even instructed his agent to tell other potentially interested clubs – including Napoli and Real Madrid – that he wasn’t interested in talking to them.
Yet unlike the man he is likely to replace at his new club, Woltemade never came close to downing tools. “He has to learn still,” Pizarro told a group of international journalists on the afternoon of the Super Cup, “because he is really big but sometimes he doesn’t use his body like he could, nor score many goals with the head.” (Only one of Woltemade’s 12 Bundesliga goals last season was headed.) A few hours later, as he ploughed a lone furrow with Stuttgart under Bayern’s thumb, it was clear just how hard Woltemade had been working on his back-to-goal game, to considerable success. That attitude, and his state of grace, suggest Newcastle may have a new darling in their midst.
