Newcastle United‘s Nick Woltemade completed a season-long loan move to Juventus on deadline day.
The striker came off the bench in the Premier League side’s 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur, days after playing the full 90 minutes in the Magpies’ EFL Cup win over West Bromwich Albion.
In August there were claims of Barcelona interest, and Sport Witness were informed those were nonsense. Indeed, Woltemade and his camp weren’t pushing to leave Newcastle United.
Why striker left Newcastle United
This week’s edition of SportBild gives an insight into what convinced the 24-year-old to leave the Magpies. Juventus will cover the Germany international’s full salary of €8m per year.
Newcastle United’s 2-2 draw against Liverpool on August 23rd was crucial for the striker pushing for the transfer.
The match was manager Matthias Jaissle’s first competitive fixture with his new club. He left Nick Woltemade on the bench, and this ‘angered’ the latter and his entourage.
Woltemade was also surprised by the style employed by Jaissle, with too many long balls. This made him doubt having a key role in the new style under the current manager.
Newcastle United made 56 long passes against Liverpool with 28% success rate and their opponent completed 46% of 48 long passes.
What happened with Newcastle’s stance
The Tyneside club appointed Matthias Jaissle as Eddie Howe’s successor in August. The new boss saw room for improvement with Nick Woltemade.
Therefore, Newcastle United looked for a club for the frontman and agreed a loan deal with the Turin side. It was the Magpies who initiated the exit, backing what Sport Witness revealed during the window.
SportBild adds it won’t be easy for the German at the Serie A side.
Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti has ‘has expressed clear expectations to Woltemade in recent days: The attacking player should bring even more physical quality to Juve’s game with his height, be a strong header of the ball, and create numerous scoring opportunities in the penalty area.’
