Some Bayern Munich executives have labeled Newcastle’s £69 million move for Nick Woltemade as nothing short of "idiotic". However, after the German international scored his third goal in four starts against Saint-Gilloise, a different word comes to mind.
Woltemade is still adapting to a new team, a completely different style of play, a new country, and a manager in Eddie Howe who demands extremely high fitness levels—all while having missed out on pre-season preparation. Given this context, his club-record deal now looks like an extremely wise decision.
In fact, if Newcastle splashed such a hefty sum on a much-needed striker amid Alexander Isak’s eagerness to move to Liverpool, then what does that make Bayern Munich?
The German football giant made three attempts to sign the 6ft 6in forward from Stuttgart, but all failed—until Newcastle matched the asking price at the end of August. They know better than anyone else about Woltemade’s potential, and Newcastle are starting to see it too.
This club has dominated the Bundesliga for decades, often using its financial clout to poach the best players from rivals. So their current remarks are nothing but sour grapes at their finest.
The fact that they are still complaining about this as autumn sets in says a lot about how much their pride has been hurt. Deep down, they believe a club like Newcastle could never outcompete a prestigious club like Bayern for any player.
For this group of so-called "fools", the outcome isn’t half bad.
Newcastle United won—and in the UEFA Champions League, no less. This victory is no small feat: it’s their biggest win in the Champions League and their third away win in the competition. Considering the season has felt like it’s missing a piece or two of the puzzle, this game is far from insignificant.
"He has huge potential," Howe said after the match. "We expect more from him. The physicality of the Premier League requires him to do certain things, like making long runs—you have to do that to be effective. The game tempo is very high, and you have to be able to maintain that intensity for long periods. We’ll put a lot of fitness work into him to make him stronger.
"But his most outstanding quality is his technical ability. He seems to have a natural talent for scoring goals, which is fantastic. As he spends more time with us, his height and form will only get better. This is an exciting start for him—he’s done really, really well. Most importantly, he’s willing and eager to put in the work, and he’s keen to improve."
If all this makes Newcastle look like fools, they’ll gladly take it.
Of course, things shouldn’t have turned out this way. In a different world, Isak would still be playing for Howe, and the club’s expectations for the season would have been far beyond manageable levels. Isak’s departure meant the team lost around 20 league goals per season, and with Liverpool signing Hugo Ekitike, Newcastle’s recruitment team identified Woltemade as the best fit to replace Isak.
This forced the club to come to terms with a harsh reality: no matter what they did in the transfer market, their starting lineup would only get weaker. The next challenge was to strengthen the squad and expand their options—and Newcastle finally managed to do just that.
While signing the young but high-potential Woltemade, they also brought in veteran Yoan Visa.
Howe had to fight to sign Visa, as the 29-year-old is unlikely to bring any transfer value to Newcastle in the future. But the argument here is that Kieran Trippier and Dan Burn were in similar positions—both signed during the first frantic transfer window after the club’s takeover, yet they have delivered extraordinary value. That’s exactly the role Visa is expected to play: step straight into the team and buy Woltemade time to adapt.
Last month, Visa suffered a knee injury while playing for the Democratic Republic of the Congo in an international fixture, which derailed this plan. "We were worried Nick would feel too much pressure," a senior first-team source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. "You feel for him—he’s carrying so much responsibility. We’d always hoped someone could share that burden with him."
