Stuttgart reveal Nick Woltemade to Newcastle United regret as injury blow confirmed
Nick Woltemade has scored four goals for Newcastle United since joining from Stuttgart for a club-record £69m.
Stuttgart head coach Sebastian Hoeness is ruing the German club’s “risk” to sell Nick Woltemade to Newcastle United after losing his first-choice striker to injury.
With just a few days of the summer transfer window remaining, Stuttgart sanctioned Woltemade’s £69million club-record move to Newcastle without a replacement through the door.
The Bundesliga outfit did agree a £24m deal for Genk striker Hyeon Gyu Oh but pulled out of a move after his medical flagged concerns of a potential knee issue.
As a result, the goalscoring burden has fallen on Bosnia and Herzegovina international Ermedin Demirovic. However, he is currently sidelined through injury, leaving Hoeness to regret the loss of Woltemade.
Stuttgart manager rues Nick Woltemade’s £69m sale to Newcastle United
"It's not about whether my fears were confirmed. We all knew that we were taking a risk by selling Nick and the Hyeon Gyu Oh transfer not coming to fruition," Hoeness told Welt.
"There was great hope that he would make it through the season, as has been the case in recent years. But injuries are unfortunately a part of competitive sport.
"[Demirovic] is the only true centre-forward in the squad. For us, this means that we as a coaching staff have to work with the players on solutions. We were already doing this before Medo's absence due to the large number of games, but now the task is obviously significantly more challenging.
"I've always said that I could understand the financial implications of selling Nick. But I'm not a bank director, I'm a coach. Of course, the sporting quality of the squad is paramount. It was clear that we would lose a lot of quality by selling Nick, especially since his striker profile is so exceptional.
“We all recognised the need to sign a replacement for Nick, but unfortunately, the transfer couldn't be realised at this late stage for the reasons already explained."
Nick Woltemade’s excellent start to life at Newcastle United
With four goals in five starts, Woltemade has made an excellent start to life at Newcastle, despite people in Germany - namely those associated with Bayern Munich - making bitter jibes at his price tag.
“I always say with these types of things, it's irrelevant really, the market dictates him to transfer fees, not necessarily any one club,” Newcastle boss Eddie Howe recently said.
“We're very pleased to have Nick with us, I think he's started very strongly, it must have been a difficult period for him because he's thrust straight into action, no training time with us really of any note, and I think he's done really, really well.
“We're really pleased to have him with us, the transfer fee for me is absolutely irrelevant.
Howe added: “We signed him. We believe in him. We believe that he can make the transition from another league to this. But in saying that, it's still so difficult to do with no training. It's frustrating. Hardly knew his teammates' names and then he's playing.
“Then you're judged instantly on whether you're going to be a success or failure. That's tough. He's made such a positive impression around the training ground, with his interactions with staff and with players. Then he's delivered on the pitch.”