Newcastle are closing in on a deal to sign Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart. Coveted by Bayern Munich, the Germany international’s arrival would be a hugely exciting addition.
Persistence and patience were key on Nick Woltemade’s somewhat surprisingly long road from promising youngster to Bundesliga star, and soon, £75 million Newcastle United signing.
Suggesting he had to be patient may seem slightly sensationalist given Woltemade was – at the time – Werder Bremen’s youngest ever player (17 years, 352 days) in the Bundesliga when starting a February 2020 defeat to Augsburg, but any hopes of a rapid ascent were continually dashed.
That was his only league start of 2019-20, and just one more followed in the next campaign, which proved something of a nightmare for Woltemade. A virus “set him back somewhat” according to sporting director Frank Baumann, as the youngster missed Werder’s first six games of 2021. It took him another six weeks or so get anywhere close to a return to fitness, when he suffered a knee ligament injury in training.
He didn’t play again in 2020-21 and Werder were ultimately relegated for the first time since 1980. While a season in the second tier might have been seen as an opportunity for a young player to establish himself, Woltemade also hardly got a look-in during 2022-23.
After playing a grand total of 25 minutes across the opening seven matchdays, appearing only twice, the teenager suffered a foot injury that ruled him out for nearly five months. But even then, while available for the rest of the campaign, his five outings amounted to a measly 19 minutes on the pitch.
Nick Woltemade availability
A subsequent loan move to the third tier of German football might have been perceived as Woltemade’s potential slipping away, but it proved a crucial step.
Most importantly, he was playing football, and consistent minutes provided Woltemade the opportunity to showcase his rather unique skillset and style of play at Elversberg. While 10 goals from 31 league games won’t qualify as prolific, he also recorded nine assists, an early sign – for the uninitiated – that he was no ordinary number nine.
“I was actually really unlucky; if you look at our games, I could have had more assists,” he insisted during an interview with Werder’s official website in March 2023.
That throwaway comment is quite illustrative of the type of centre-forward Newcastle are signing in Woltemade. Don’t expect him to just wait around in the box for high balls that allow him an endless stream of headed chances; no, although a giant of a man, he’s probably one of the most technically gifted forwards in Europe, and being able to exploit that when carrying the ball and linking with teammates has been more important to his style than his size or any desire to be a goal poacher.
For instance, after returning to Bremen from Elversberg, Woltemade went on to make 30 Bundesliga appearances in the 2023-24 campaign, yielding just two goals (and they came in the same match).
Granted, he played several different roles in attack and the majority of his minutes in the first half of 2023-24 were from the bench, but he still netted fewer goals than six of his teammates. The fact is, isolating him up front and just expecting him to be a goal threat would’ve robbed Werder of Woltemade’s greatest talents.
Nick Woltemade positions
Despite having to bide his time, in his second start of 2023-24, Woltemade made a real impression on a grand stage. It was January 2024 and just his second top-flight outing as a starter since October 2020, and he was filling in up top for the suspended Marvin Ducksch at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich.
Within a few minutes he was dribbling his way past two Bayern players and out of danger on the edge of his own box; then there was a delicate flick through Matthijs de Ligt’s legs to help spring a counterattack; soon after he was skilfully sidestepping a couple of opponents before playing a long ball over the top that almost led to a goal-scoring opportunity; he forced a vital intervention from Dayot Upamecano when breaking into the box; his clever backheel in the area yielded a deflected Mitchell Weiser effort that nearly found the top-left corner. And all of that was just inside the first 24 minutes.
Bayern struggled to keep a lid on Woltemade because he kept dropping into deeper positions looking for the ball and then had the technical quality to retain possession even under pressure, using it smartly more often than not as others ran beyond him. His influence waned once Werder went ahead in the second half and he was withdrawn, but it was a performance that earned him praise. Not that his qualities surprised anyone at Werder.
“We weren’t scratching our eyes, because we know what Nick can do,” head coach Ole Werner said afterwards.
Club director, Clemens Fritz, added: “Nick is simply unpleasant to play against, because he always has the ball at his feet. He kept the ball under control and played it into space well.”
Having started just one Bundesliga game beforehand that season, Woltemade went on to be named in the first XI 10 times in their following 16 matches, including each of the last six of the campaign. Werder were unable to keep hold of Woltemade, however, as the 21-year-old opted against signing a new contract and instead joined Stuttgart, where his game reached a new level entirely to earn him his first international call-up and attract serious interest from Bayern.
But once again, patience was needed. Woltemade didn’t start a Bundesliga game at all for Stuttgart until 23 November, and he also wasn’t registered in their Champions League squad. He had to make do with the minutes he could get in the league and a couple of appearances in the DFB-Pokal.
Nick Woltemade - Minutes Played
A goal in each of his first two cup games – as well as one off the bench in the league against Eintracht Frankfurt – hinted he was primed to step up when given the chance, and in early December, he took full advantage.
Stuttgart found themselves 2-0 down at home to Union Berlin shortly after Woltemade’s half-time introduction, but he scored two excellent goals in eight minutes to turn the game around. First, he pounced on a deflected pass and skipped past the goalkeeper after a feint to slam home; then, he expertly controlled an incisive ball from midfield and broke into the box, losing his marker and cutely nudging his finish beyond the keeper into the bottom-right corner.
From then until the end of the season, 17 of Woltemade’s next 21 Bundesliga appearances were as a starter, and he quickly became a key figure. Sure, he carried goal threat, but his general play and the positions he took up meant he stood out – though that was also helped by the fact he’s nearly two metres tall.
Stuttgart Shape - In Possession with Nick Woltemade
Make no mistake, there can be something jarring about Woltemade’s style of play. Or perhaps that should be surprising? The thing is – and forgive us for potentially veering into ‘good touch for a big man’ territory here – players of Woltemade’s build are unusual enough. When you then add in nimble footwork, silky skill and a deceptive turn of pace, it can catch you off guard.
The key point here is, Woltemade isn’t quite your conventional target man. Obviously, his height does give him an advantage in some situations, and his 114 aerial duels contested last term saw him rank 13th among Bundesliga forwards. But of the 18 forwards who tallied at least 100 aerials in 2024-25, 11 bettered his success rate (44.7%). He has improved aerially, for sure, but there’s far more to him than simply being very, very tall.
As alluded to already, Woltemade is subtle – graceful, even. Happiest with the ball at his feet, he ranked sixth among nominal centre-forwards in the Bundesliga last term for dribble attempts (73), though his 1,620 minutes played was fewer than all of those above him.
Not unrelated to that, his 9.8 ball carries – movements of at least five metres in possession – per 90 was the sixth most among centre-forwards (900+ mins) in the Bundesliga last season. While that is a strength of his generally, and aided by his close control, it also manifested in decisive situations.
After all, his four goal-ending carries was bettered only by Jamal Musiala and Omar Marmoush (5 each) across the entire league in 2024-25. That those four came from just seven shot-ending carries reflects very well on his maturity and decision making.
Nick Woltemade - Attacking carries
It’s also worth noting that only 10 players – just two of whom could be considered centre-forwards – bettered his 13 chance-creating carries. And that being almost double his shot-ending carries tally also speaks to a certain on-pitch level-headedness.
Essentially, the creative side of the game is probably where Woltemade’s qualities shine most.
For starters, among nominal centre-forwards in the Bundesliga last term (900+ mins), Woltemade comfortably led the way for open-play chances created per 90 with 1.9. It wasn’t just a case of him playing short passes to teammates who’d have a go from range either; no, he brought genuine creative ingenuity to Stuttgart.
Nick Woltemade chances created
His 0.25 expected goals (xG) assisted per 90 was the same as the widely lauded Florian Wirtz and bettered by just six players in the whole division. Woltemade’s vision in the final third has long been praised as one of his greatest assets, and this is a pretty effective way of quantifying that.
But just because some of Woltemade’s most notable strengths revolve around dropping into deeper positions, linking the play together and being a creative force, it doesn’t mean he isn’t also useful in the box.
While his goals record prior to joining Stuttgart was hardly exceptional, we must remember he frequently played roles that required him to be something other than just a fox in the box, and first-team football was often difficult to come by. He took on a more focal point last term and that was reflected in his improved record in front of goal, which was arguably better than it looked.
Twelve Bundesliga goals might appear modest, but those were netted at a rate of one every 135 minutes; only three players aged 23 or under last term bettered that across the top five European leagues.
Similarly, his record of 2.6 non-penalty shots per 90 was a highly respectable figure for a player who also carried considerable creative responsibility.
Nick Woltemade Bundesliga shots
And on that note, it’s important to observe where those shots have been taken from; all but one of his 46 non-pen attempts came from inside the area, which again is a positive sign for a player who likes to drop deep and get involved in the build-up.
Similarly, his 9.4 touches in the opposition’s box per 90 since the start of last season is the third most in the top five leagues (1,700+ mins). It all suggests he does a good job of balancing these responsibilities.
Nick Woltemade heat map
Furthermore, Woltemade ranked fourth among Bundesliga centre-forwards (900+ mins) for proportion (17.8%) of off-ball runs into the area that made him available for a cross while a teammate had possession in a wide area, evidence of him being proactive in attack even when not in possession himself.
And when chances did fall to him, Woltemade was reliable. His 10 non-penalty goals came from 8.0 non-pen xG and he boasted a shot conversion rate of 24.5%, the fourth best among Bundesliga players to attempt at least 40 shots in 2024-25.
In short, Woltemade was one of the most rounded centre-forwards in Europe last term, with it no wonder Bayern pushed hard to sign him earlier in the window. He was one of just six such players from the top five leagues (900+ minutes) to average at least 2.0 shots (2.7), 0.3 non-pen xG (0.44), 7.0 touches in the opposition’s box (9.8) and 1.0 open-play chances created (1.9) on a per-90 basis.
It’s undoubtedly been a frustrating transfer window for Newcastle, but pulling a deal for Woltemade out of the hat with the deadline closing in would be an impressive way to ease the malaise at St James’ Park.
From a neutral’s perspective, the hope is we get to see Woltemade linking up with Alexander Isak, because what a prospect that could be.
But even if the Germany international ultimately proves to be Isak’s replacement, Woltemade’s arrival should be considered an exciting coup.
Premier League Stats Opta
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