Transfer journalists Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano report that Woltemade has now given the green light for a loan move to Juventus and will undergo his medical there on Tuesday.
Transfer journalist Matteo Moretto had previously reported that the Germany international had agreed a loan move with Juventus until the end of the season. Juve and Newcastle are also now said to have reached an agreement. Under those terms, the Old Lady will pay a loan fee of four to five million euros, but will receive no purchase clause whatsoever for Woltemade. That means the Germany international will return to the Magpies after the end of the season, where he is still under contract until 2031.
Newcastle only signed Woltemade from VfB Stuttgart last summer for 75 million euros, but after a magnificent start with four goals in his first five league games, his form dipped. That was also partly because then Newcastle manager Eddie Howe at one point deployed Woltemade in a significantly deeper role, virtually as a number eight. That was at least what Woltemade had always pointed to when he was asked by the media about his goal drought.
"A goal or an assist is expected from me in every game. But if I am not playing in attack, it is much more difficult for me to get into the dangerous scoring areas," Woltemade stressed to stern in June, before also taking aim at his critics in England, who in his view had not understood that Howe was by then using him in a different position: "Even so, I was still being judged by some pundits as a striker. Then it was: Why is Nick scoring so few goals? Why is he not getting more assists? Those were the wrong questions, and I did not find them entirely fair."
Woltemade loses starting place at Newcastle United and in the Germany team
The 24-year-old subsequently lost his starting place both at Newcastle and in the Germany team. At the World Cup, he only came on in the round of 32 against Paraguay shortly before extra time, and in the subsequent penalty shootout Woltemade missed, just as Kai Havertz had before him and Jonathan Tah after him. Germany thus suffered the next major World Cup debacle and were knocked out.
Julian Nagelsmann then came under heavy criticism for his handling of the struggling striker, who was supposed to take such an important penalty without any tournament rhythm.
Meanwhile, Woltemade had been targeting a fresh start with the Magpies, not least because Howe stepped down and the German coach Matthias Jaissle replaced him. Jaissle is even said to have called Woltemade's former mentor Sebastian Hoeneß in Stuttgart to discuss with the VfB coach how Woltemade should best be used so that he can rediscover his old strength.
On the opening matchday of the Premier League, in the 2-2 draw against Liverpool, Woltemade again stayed on the bench for the full 90 minutes, but in the 2-0 win over Tottenham last weekend he came on around 20 minutes from time and immediately set up Yoane Wissa's goal for 2-0.
Tuesday evening then brought a replacement for the striker on the verge of leaving. As the Magpies announced, Belgium international striker Matias Fernandez-Pardo is joining the English side from Lille. According to media reports, Newcastle are paying around 60 million euros to France as the transfer fee.
Getty ImagesBorussia Dortmund miss out on Woltemade and probably also on Jonathan David
Now Woltemade looks set to leave Newcastle. At Juventus he is supposed to replace Jonathan David, who is moving to Atletico Madrid and who during his time with the Old Lady did not consistently produce the goal return that had previously made him internationally coveted at Lille. According to transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Canadian's move to the Rojiblancos, for whom he has already scored 154 professional goals in his career, is imminent.
David will initially join Atletico on loan, with a purchase option of 25 million euros next summer. Juve themselves only signed David on a free transfer last summer after his contract at Lille had expired.
For Borussia Dortmund, both impending Juve moves are understood to be significant setbacks. On Sunday, Bild reported that because of Giannis Konstantelias' serious knee injury, Woltemade was once again part of the thinking of Dortmund's bosses. Borussia Dortmund are said to have asked Newcastle about Woltemade's availability weeks ago, but according to Sky were immediately rebuffed.
David, too, is said to have recently appeared on the radar of Dortmund's bosses around Lars Ricken and Ole Book. As Sky Italia reports, the Black and Yellows made enquiries in Turin about the Canadian. But neither attacking player will be moving to Dortmund this summer. Instead, a permanent signing of Marcel Regula from Polish top-flight club Zaglebie Lubin briefly looked to be taking shape, but now there is said to be an agreement over a loan until the end of the season for Arsenal's Ethan Nwaneri.
Getty ImagesKonstantelias replacement: Borussia Dortmund have "a few irons in the fire"
Earlier, coach Niko Kovac had already confirmed that after the Konstantelias shock, Borussia Dortmund were once again scouring the transfer market and had identified several candidates. "We have a few irons in the fire and now we have to see which one can best be forged," Kovac said at the press conference ahead of Borussia's DFB Cup match on Tuesday evening at Oberliga side HEBC Hamburg.
Kovac also revealed that Book and Ricken will not make the trip to the game in Hamburg for that reason: "They will be working hard, because there is damned little time. Everything has to fit."
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