Journalist now claims Nick Woltemade is unhappy at Newcastle United and would welcome move back to Stuttgart
Nick Woltemade found the back of the net for Newcastle United on Saturday for the first time in 14 games. It was a huge moment for the German, who hit the ground running when he was thrown into the starting lineup at the start of the season, but has faded in recent months.
Eddie Howe deployed the German in a deeper role against Aston Villa, and it paid dividends. The 6'6" striker saw more of the ball on Saturday than he had in his last three appearances combined, it felt like.
The fact that he instinctively took the ball of Joe Willock's toe end to fire it into the roof of the net to seal Newcastle's huge win was just the cherry on the icing on the cake.
It no doubt eased a ton of pressure off his shoulders after such a barren run without a goal.
Nick Woltemade 'unhappy' claims came as part of a jokey article
So just as the lad gets some feel-good factor back, the German media have moved to try and take it away, running a load of tripe which has been repeated by the BBC as facts, that Nick Woltemade has long been unhappy at Newcastle.
The story comes from a column in the German outlet Bild in which journalist Raymond Hinko 'writes to' Bayern players, and in his piece to Harry Kane, he speaks about being succeeded by Nick Woltemade at Bayern Munich, dropping a line that he's unhappy at Newcastle.
"You’re the first striker to become a constant threat from deeper and deeper. The first playmaker with long-range shooting in football history. First eleven, then sixteen meters. Soon twenty. Eventually thirty. Finally, from the halfway line. You can’t possibly play football that long at 32. For that ridiculous €100 million transfer fee, you were a steal in 2023. You’ll be the first football grandpa, hopefully at Bayern Munich, to play on the same team as his grandchildren, pardon me, sons. As a libero or in goal, sorry Manuel Neuer, sorry Jonas Urbig.
"And who do you have to thank for that? Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga. You never would have developed like this in the hectic Premier League . Look at Nick Woltemade, who’s been unhappy at Newcastle for ages and would rather go back to Stuttgart or maybe even Bayern Munich sooner rather than later . Nick would make a good successor for you."
There's absolutely no basis for fact here; it's just one man's opinion and attempt at a quirky article.
The Bild article isn't the issue; it's the BBC's regurgitating of it that is
That in itself is absolutely fine, we're not opposed to the odd daft article ourselves, but what's damaging here is the fact that the BBC have seen fit to include it in their Gossip section today as if there was some truth to it.
If lowly writers like myself and Dean Wilkins of The Mag can see the Bild article for what it really is, why can't the staffers at the BBC spot the difference? Perhaps they can, and they just thought it would be fun to stir the pot.
Either way, it landed like a cheap shot, but hopefully plenty Newcastle fans have seen through it and aren't buying it for one second.
