Even without doing a hefty amount of business quite yet, Newcastle have been major players in the 2025 summer transfer market.
Their lack of completed business looks about to change in a big way.
According to multiple reports, including Sky Sports and Fabrizio Romano, Newcastle have agreed to a club-record deal to sign Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade.
Reports have the fee at around €80 million (£69.2m / $93.5m), with €75 million guaranteed and another €5 million in add-ons.
Regardless, the value will beat the £63 million Newcastle paid for Alexander Isak in his move from Real Sociedad back in 2022. So, who is Newcastle’s new talisman, and why are they paying so much?
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Who is Nick Woltemade?
Nick Woltemade was born in Bremen, Germany in February of 2002, joining the Werder Bremen academy at 8 from his boyhood club of TS Woltmershausen.
He would make his professional debut for Werder Bremen in February 2020, just two weeks before his 18th birthday, becoming the club’s youngest-ever player to appear in a Bundesliga match. He would find a pathway to regular minutes in the 2022/23 season via a loan to 3 Liga side SV Elversberg, where he scored 10 goals to earn the club’s second straight promotion.
He returned to Werder Bremen and appeared 30 matches, logging just two goals in the 2023/24 season, both which came in the same game. Otherwise, he produced 1,100 largely unproductive minutes.
That saw Werder Bremen allow Woltemade to leave on a free transfer, as he decided to choose his next destination on his own. He would sign for Stuttgart in the summer of 2024, a four-year contract which would pay off immensely for the club in the short-term.
Woltemade would explode to score an incredible 17 goals in all competitions in his first season with Stuttgart, helping the club to win its first DFB-Pokal title in 27 years with his opening goal in the final, a 4-2 win over Arminia Bielefeld.
His incredible first season with Stuttgart would earn Woltemade a call-up to the German national team this past summer, where he would appear in both UEFA Nations League matches, both ending in defeat. With Germany lacking at the No. 9 position, Woltemade factors into Germany’s plans heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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Is Nick Woltemade worth £64 million?
Now we come to the million dollar — rather, £64 million — question.
Having lost Callum Wilson and likely to see Alexander Isak force his way out of the club, Newcastle are publicly desperate to sign multiple strikers this summer, and other clubs know it. Thus, as a rich Premier League club that can be exploited, other clubs are certainly going to ask a premium fee from Newcastle to secure a deal.
Nick Woltemade is 23 and coming off just his second full top-flight season, which is both a positive and negative. While he has room to grow into his prime, he is also a massive gamble for such a huge fee, considering there’s a lack of body of work at the highest level.
There’s no doubt about the fact that Woltemade’s numbers pop, even outside of his significant goals tally. According to FBRef, Woltemade was heavily involved in the attack, ranking in the 99th percentile amongst worldwide strikers for touches in the penalty area, 96th percentile in shot-creating actions, 95th percentile in successful take-ons (more on that in a moment), and 91st in progressive passes received.
However, one must always take into account the league in which he played, and the Bundesliga is known for inflating attacking numbers. West Ham fans will know full well that 12 goals in the Bundesliga — which Niclas Fullkrug scored in his final season in Germany, the same number that Woltemade bagged last campaign — does not necessarily indicate Premier League success.
Regardless of the promise he shows, £80 million is an enormous fee for a relatively unknown player. Newcastle are laying it all on the line here.
Why is Nick Woltemade called ‘Woltemessi’?
Nick Woltemade has a number of nicknames, but one stands out as maybe the most intriguing.
Most of Woltemade’s nicknames reference his significant size, standing at 6-6, including “Big Nick” or “The Tower of Stuttgart.” Others are a play on his name, including “Goaltemade” or “Stolpermade” (which in English hilariously translates to “stumble-maggot”).
However, it’s “Woltemessi” that has caught the eye of many English-language readers.
“I like to be the entertainer!”
Nick Woltemade (or “Woltemessi”) opens up to us about his great season on @ESPNFC after helping VfB Stuttgart through to their first DFB Cup final in 12 years. pic.twitter.com/TbB4oehffw
— Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1) April 2, 2025
The 23-year-old has been called this by some of his teammates at Stuttgart, owing to his surprising dribbling skills for someone of his tall stature.
As mentioned earlier, Woltemade ranks in the 95th percentile for successful take-ons amongst strikers worldwide. He completed 31 successful dribbles in the Bundesliga last season, which ranked 10th amongst all forwards, a list which included the likes of known dribblers Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Omar Marmoush, and Benjamin Sesko.
