Julian Nagelsmann reveals warning he gave Nick Woltemade about Bayern Munich transfer as 'unfortunate' public saga dragged on before Newcastle switch

Nagelsmann has always insisted that he wants his players to get plenty of minutes on the pitch, no matter where they play. He shared the very same concern with Woltemade before he chose to move to Newcastle after seeing a transfer to Bayern blocked by Stuttgart on several occasions. The German head coach advised Woltemade to ask Bayern to guarantee him proper minutes on the pitch rather than telling him outright which club he should join.

The ex-Bayern head coach had previously said that he is in favour of Woltemade going where he gets more playing time. Even before the Magpies' interest in the striker, he was in favor of Woltemade continuing with Stuttgart as he would get more time to grow and develop with them rather than at Bayern, where he would have to fight for minutes with Harry Kane as their primary striker.

Eventually, Woltemade signed for Newcastle after being involved in a media frenzy all summer with Stuttgart reportedly rejecting three bids for the striker from Bayern. His national team manager denied advising him where to go, but warned him to prioritise playing time to ensure he has a chance of joining Germany's World Cup squad.

Asked about the drawn out Woltemade saga, Nagelsmann said: "I think it’s unfortunate on all sides that everything was played out so publicly. Of course, I gave him some advice - not where he should move, I don’t do that - but that players have to play [regularly]. I didn’t consider a few of the summer transfers to be entirely fortunate. Because then players go from 100% playing time to 15%. That doesn’t do me much good as a national team coach. I told Nick he’s welcome to move to Bayern if he wants to. But he should also make it clear to them that with 25% playing time, things would be tight for him for the World Cup."

Germany lost their opening-round World Cup qualifier fixture against Slovakia in a 2-0 defeat. It marks the first time ever that Germany has lost an away match in World Cup qualifying stage. This has built more pressure on Nagelsmann, who will have to get the results in their upcoming fixture against Northern Ireland on September 8.