Germany's Julian Nagelsmann hails Nick Woltemade and £69m Newcastle move

Nick Woltemade has had an international break to remember.

After struggling in Newcastle's last three games, failing to score or link the play as effectively against West Ham, Athletic Bilbao and Brentford, the big man has been superb for Germany over the last five days.

He bagged a brace in last week's 2-0 win over Luxembourg, then found the net again on Monday night, firing Germany to the World Cup via a 6-0 win over Slovakia.

With Arsenal's Kai Havertz struggling with a recent injury and West Ham's Niclas Füllkrug out of sorts at West Ham, the starting striker role under Julian Nagelsmann is now Woltemade's to lose ahead of next year's World Cup.

On that not, the Germany boss has been discussing his form, for club and country, after last night's win, hailing his development in 2025 and decision to join Newcastle, where he's clearly very settled:

“He has made real strides. Moving to another country with a different style of football is never easy, but he’s scored a few times.

"Heels at home in the city (Newcastle Upon Tyne), and overall the situation (playing for Newcastle) seems to suit both him and us really well.

“He’s a fantastic player. He has gone from the U21 EURO final to being a regular starter with us in no time.

“He’s in demand right now because he’s been playing really well and has already scored for us too. He’s welcome to keep that going tomorrow [against Luxembourg] and on Monday [against Slovakia]. I’m very pleased with him.”

Woltemade also spoke to the media after scoring again for his country, discussing an 'emotional year' and the buzz of firing his country to the World Cup after four goals in his last three Germany starts:

"That was a really strong team performance from start to finish, we didn’t let up for a second. We were creative, we were on the front foot, and I think it must’ve been a great game to watch.

“Personally, I’m just feeling relieved right now. I saw Josh [Kimmich] with the chance to cross, no one was marking me, the ball came in nicely and I was able to finish it off.

“It’s been an emotional year for me. It’s always an honour to play for Germany – I came through all the youth teams, and now I’m at the top, going to the World Cup.

"I think we showed the level of quality we have today – and it was great fun out there.”