Latest Newcastle United news as the Magpies close in on a deal to sign Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart
Former Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos
Former Real Madrid and Germany midfielder Toni Kroos
(Image: Getty Images)
Former Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has delivered his reaction to Newcastle United's proposed move for Nick Woltemade - just days after he said he is going to buy a membership at St James' Park.
Kroos, 35, was left in awe of Newcastle's spirited performance against Liverpool on Monday and made the shock statement on his podcast. Eddie Howe's side, who played the entire second half with 10 men, battled back from 2-0 down to make it 2-2 before the Magpies conceded a late stoppage-time goal to lose 3-2.
"Newcastle vs Liverpool, just to say that again briefly for the few people here who haven't seen it, we're talking about that right now," ex-Germany international Kroos revealed. "I'm going to sign up as a Newcastle member today. (It was not) just the atmosphere, but also the team.
"You can do that in Germany (become a member) too, right? Is it different there? I don't know how it is, but if it's possible, please do it. They completely captivated me. I read a quote from Jamie Carragher, and I often disagree, but I have to say, he said that it was one of the worst performances in history from a winning team, and one of the best performances in history from a losing team. I agree with that.
"They're playing really well and, out of nowhere, as often happens against such favourites, they go 0-1 down. Boom. They get a red card. You come out (in the second half), 15 seconds down (it goes) 0-2.
"You're playing against the champions, the best team in England, trailing 0-2 and one man down. And what happened in the 45th, no, 55th minutes, was insane.
"I've rarely seen a team stay so active with 10 men, even at the risk of conceding six, seven, or eight at the end when you're somehow open. And then in the second half, not sitting back and saying, ‘Please not the third, please not the fourth’ and somehow making it 2-2. You think you've seen everything in football. But it's really incredibly rare that you, an underdog team against the favourites, play like that."
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Just a matter of days after Kroos made that revelation about Newcastle, the Magpies have decided to push through a move for Stuttgart's Nick Woltemade. Howe's men have agreed a £60.5million deal to sign the 23-year-old, who landed in Newcastle on Thursday ahead of putting the finishing touches on a move to Tyneside.
Coincidence? Well, Kroos has since responded to a claim that there could be a correlation between his remark that he is going to buy a Newcastle membership and Woltemade's switch to the North East.
Kroos, who has 13 million followers, said on X: "This can't all be a coincidence."
Woltemade is set to be the second Germany international Newcastle have signed so far this summer, after Malik Thiaw made the big-money move from AC Milan earlier in the transfer window.
He scored 17 goals in 33 appearances for Stuttgart last season and Bayern Munich were among the teams pursuing his signature. However, Vincent Kompany's side pulled out of the race, leaving Newcastle with a free run.
Speaking on Newcastle's transfer business and the signing of Woltemade in a press conference on Friday, Howe said: "We are still looking because I think there is an opportunity to improve the squad further.
"Small steps, let's get the deal we are working on now done first."