Nick Woltemade will be hailed as a saviour if he hits the ground running for Newcastle United. He is already happy in his "new home" and credits Eddie Howe for the "good feeling" from their talks.
‘The club really want me’
Woltemade was happy that the terms of the transfer had been agreed and he had sealed the deal.
“I'm really happy. The last few days have been a bit crazy, but I'm really happy now to be here to be at an amazing club. Everybody feels already like a family to be honest and everybody welcome me.”
He will automatically bring smiles to supporters and the squad alike as a replacement for Alexander Isak, who has been pushing for a move to Liverpool. When he is off the field, the German describes himself as a personality who likes to bring others joy, looking to add to the camaraderie in the camp.
“I always want everybody laughing around me and with me. I want everybody to be happy around me. That's my aim in life. I hope I can do it also here in another language. I can hopefully do it also.”
The 23-year-old offered insight into why he has picked Newcastle as the next step in his club career.
“From the first contact, I felt really familiar. For me it's important to feel it like the club really want me and have a big plan with me. When I talked to the coach I had a good feeling. It feels really. Now I'm here and what I had in the talks I already feel here everybody's really happy and friendly to me.”
The manager is always a big factor in the thinking for players as they weigh up whether a transfer is the best choice for their career. **Eddie Howe**has worked wonders with Callum Wilson and Isak on Tyneside, and Woltemade will want to add to the hit list for the striker recruitment of the club.
“I’ve known him a long time but the first meeting felt really good and in the calls we were laughing, talking not just about football and that's important for me to feel good and if you can talk like this with your coach not just about football it's important I felt really good. I met him the first time in real life and told him before, he doesn't have to be shocked. I'm really tall. But he was not shocked!”
At the eleventh hour, the Toon have swooped in for the forward. Hugo Ekitiké, Bryan Mbeumo, Liam Delap, and Joao Pedro were all reportedly on their radar last month. But throughout the talks with Woltemade, they have shown enough confidence in his ability to tempt him to the North-East.
“I'm so happy to be here. This club said, "Okay, we will do it and we want to go with you and this gave me a good feeling where I said okay, I want to do this. If a club want me so much and give me such a good feeling, I will do it." I'm in England, in Newcastle, and I'm happy to be at my new home.”
He must adapt to life away from Germany after spells at Werder Bremen and **Stuttgart**in the Bundesliga. As someone who is still close to his parents, this is a significant transition in his life.
“It’s a thing in my life for sure. My mum was sad that I'm leaving Germany. They're coming to every game and watch everything and they hopefully do it also here and they're excited for new stadiums, for new for new games, for new league. I’m a family guy and it is my first time out of Germany.”
With the seal of approval from his mother, he is sure that he will settle into life as an adopted Geordie.
“My mom was first a little bit scared to be honest and now we're sitting in the car to come here to the stadium and she said like guys the people are so good here and I guess now really this is a good step for you. And I guess my mom said it so I was like okay then it has to be right and I'm really happy!”