Newcastle United proposed swap deal to Borussia Dortmund including Nick Woltemade, before he eventually went on loan to Juventus.
SportBILD report that Newcastle were willing to include Woltemade in a deal for Felix Nmecha on deadline day.
Woltemade plus cash
The newspaper reports that Newcastle made a ‘concrete inquiry’ about the 25-year-old midfielder this summer. They proposed offsetting some of the transfer fee – with Dortmund seeking €100m plus – by including Woltemade in the deal.
The Magpies were willing to add a ‘multi-million-euro cash payment’ on top of the striker to secure Nmecha’s services.
The problem is that Dortmund were not willing to comply. Their leadership quickly reached a consensus – Nmecha is viewed as a key pillar of the midfield for this season. That stance was non-negotiable.
The offer from Newcastle, and the Premier League, did not change that fact. Dortmund’s bosses rejected the proposal and put a stop to the proposed swap deal. It was very much a turnaround from a year ago, when they were forced to sell Jamie Gittens to Chelsea and generate a transfer profit.
The situation has now changed and, that allowed them to reject Newcastle’s proposal outright. Nmecha remained in Dortmund and Newcastle were forced to go elsewhere.
Newcastle business elsewhere
The Magpies eventually signed Nico Gonzalez, Aladji Bamba, and Sean Steur to bolster their midfield following the departures of Sandro Tonali and Brunio Guimaraes. Woltemade, meanwhile, is spending the season on loan at Juventus.
Newcastle’s interest in Felix Nmecha is nothing new. A report last month stated Dortmund’s €120m demands had led to concerns at St James Park.
They were reportedly being scared off by that price and also had to convince the midfielder into the move anyway. In that context, their attempts to bring the price down by any means possibly makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately, it never worked, with Dortmund’s new found financial security meaning they could reject what was surely a tempting offer.
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