Nick Woltemade is not currently thinking about leaving Newcastle United this summer, despite exit claims in England.
That’s according to BILD journalist Julian Agardi. He reports that Woltemade is fully focused on Newcastle and not the summer transfer window.
Bayern Insider, a podcast dedicated to the German giants, asked him about the Newcastle striker. The question arose because Bayern showed strong interest in the player before he moved to Newcastle last summer.
Numerous reports in Germany last summer indicated that they saw Woltemade as a long-term replacement for Harry Kane. Bayern’s chiefs even spent weeks negotiating a deal, trying to get him on the cheap from Stuttgart.
Newcastle won the race with €75m
Newcastle eventually blew them out of the water with a €75m deal for the 23-year-old. Bayern have been pretty salty about that ever since.
But Woltemade remains on their radar. They’ll certainly be aware of his current struggles and the reports in England that Newcastle may look to sell this summer. according to Agardi, though, Woltemade is not currently thinking about an exit from St James Park.
“Nick Woltemade isn’t currently giving any thought to what might happen after the summer,” he said. He then insisted that the focus is on improving at Newcastle and the World Cup in the summer. Everything else, is secondary.
That doesn’t completely rule out a move to Bayern, though. The club showed strong interest last summer, and he made it clear that he wanted Bayern as well.
For example, Sport Witness covered a report in September on how Eddie Howe had convinced Woltemade to give up his Bayern dream to sign for Newcastle.
The striker holds the German club in high regard and, according to Agardi, that means a move can never be ruled out.
“If someone like Woltemade has committed himself to FC Bayern as much as he did last summer, then the issue is certainly not off the table for him. It certainly hasn’t faded within a year,” he added.
Luis Diaz a problem
The question is whether Bayern would pay what Newcastle would demand. The German giants have been pretty clear for months that they found the asking price for Woltemade ludicrous.
You also need to factor in the strong return they’ve generated from their €75m investment in Luis Díaz.
Woltemade has been well off the Colombian’s numbers, so Bayern would surely want a big price reduction. It seems unlikley Newcastle would give them it.