Newcastle United are open to letting Nick Woltemade leave on loan on transfer deadline day, with the Magpies believed to be willing to explore a temporary exit for the £69million man. Discussions with a couple of Serie A clubs are understood to have taken place in recent days as it became clear Newcastle are ready to consider other options. Bilal El Khannouss of Stuttgart remains a possibility, but Woltemade's departure could trigger a few surprise developments.
Woltemade's stance and Serie A interest
Chronicle Live understands that Woltemade's initial position is to remain at Newcastle and fight for his place. It would take a considerable loan fee for Newcastle to budge in the final 48 hours of the window, something they had not been offered by the close of play last night. Woltemade, who was only named on the bench at Spurs, has attracted suitors ahead of the final day of trading, with Napoli and Juventus interested in a loan deal.
Newcastle will not stand in Woltemade's way if he wants to go, but he is welcome to stay and compete for his place under Matthias Jaissle after being told there are no guarantees. There appear to be doubts over whether Woltemade fits the style of play Newcastle have in mind for the new season. Jaissle favours a pacy frontman and selected William Osula for the Liverpool game, but with limited options against Spurs, he went with Yoane Wissa, who got the nod.
Jaissle's transfer stance
Woltemade was left somewhat in the cold, and things did not go his way when he started in attack against West Brom. However, he played a positive part at the end against Spurs with an assist for Wissa's acrobatic effort that sealed a victory in the capital. Jaissle told Chronicle Live: "I am not a coach who will take part in media rumours. Nick is a part of the squad, we have a strong squad and we want to be selective in the transfer market with a couple of days left."
The last 48 hours of the window will see Ross Wilson be the key man in many ways for Newcastle, with the Scot savouring the dressing room scenes at Spurs last night, roaring in delight as Jaissle brought the celebratory team picture back out of retirement. Paying tribute to the transfer chief who could put the icing on the cake on deadline day, Jaissle said: "We know our needs. Ross is doing an amazing job. We have a couple of days left and will not panic and do something crazy without everyone believing it's the right decision. That's the most important thing, on a management and leadership level that we're all aligned."
