Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade has been pictured training with his former club Werder Bremen during his break after Germany's World Cup campaign. The 24-year-old made a single substitute appearance in the tournament, which ended in a shock last-32 penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay, where Woltemade's tame spot-kick was saved by goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
Woltemade's World Cup and Recovery
Julian Nagelsmann's Germany side were beaten on penalties in Boston. Woltemade, who scored nine goals in the first half of last season for Newcastle but only two in 2026, is using the time off to recover physically and mentally from a difficult second half of his first season at St James' Park and the disappointment of the World Cup exit. Eddie Howe confirmed in May that World Cup participants would receive three weeks off, meaning Woltemade is due back on Tyneside next week ahead of a busy pre-season schedule featuring games against Gateshead, Bristol City, Valencia, Everton, Bayer Leverkusen, and Strasbourg.
Full Circle Moment with Werder Bremen
Training at Werder Bremen's facilities is a full-circle moment for the Germany international, who broke through at the club. He made 51 appearances for Werder before joining Stuttgart on a free transfer in summer 2024. Woltemade became the youngest player to debut for Werder's first team at age 17 in February 2020 and impressed on loan at Elversberg in 2022/23. However, with one year left on his contract in 2023/24, he found himself in and out of the side and opted for free agency.
Record Transfer and Fan Reaction
At Stuttgart, Woltemade scored 17 goals in one season, won the DFB Pokal, and finished as top goalscorer at the under-21 European Championships. That form prompted Newcastle to pay a club-record £69 million for him in 2025, just a year after Bremen allowed their academy graduate to leave for free. Speaking to Chronicle Live last year, BILD's Werder Bremen reporter Markus Balczuweit said the transfer left Bremen fans 'angry and desperate'. 'The people in Bremen have all got grey hair over the deal,' Balczuweit said in September 2025. 'Werder is a club struggling to compete in the Bundesliga and they don't have the money they would like to have, so to have a player who is now been sold for €81m and let him go for nothing, it is a topic that has left every Werder fan angry and desperate. In the eyes of the fans the club has made a mistake.' He added: 'The irony is every summer they try to sell their best players to make some money to reinvest into the club and they have produced a jewel and not been able to make any money out of it. It is not pride but it is more, how can that happen?'
Looking Ahead to Newcastle's Season
Despite the frustration, Woltemade was welcomed back to Bremen's training facilities with open arms. He will be hoping to rediscover the form of 2025 that made him an instant hit with Newcastle fans. He ended last season playing in a No.10 role in a 4-2-3-1 formation, and it remains to be seen whether that position is his future or if he will return to a central forward role for the upcoming campaign.
