Newcastle United suffered a turbulent transfer window, but there were some winners among the chaos.
It centred around Alexander Isak, who effectively went on strike to force through a move to Liverpool, a saga which rumbled on right until the end of the window.
The Magpies were adamant they would not sell without a suitable replacement coming in, and when that came to fruition, they allowed Isak to leave for £125m.
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Newcastle United help to fund stadium work
Newcastle are not the only winners from their Nick Woltemade signing (Image credit: Getty Images)
Eddie Howe’s side had already spent a significant portion of that figure in the days before, signing Stuttgart’s Nick Woltemade as the Isak replacement, along with Brentford’s Yoane Wissa in a supporting role.
They forked out £69m for the towering German striker, coming in to replace the Swede, and a report from Germany has now revealed how those funds are being used.
Stuttgart received £69m for Woltemade (Image credit: Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images)
“We had a difficult economic starting position in 2022 after the coronavirus pandemic,” Stuttgart CEO Alexander Wehrle explained to sport.de. “We had to invest heavily in the stadium renovation, and in recent years, it has been important to consolidate.
“Last year, with €15m after taxes, we posted the best financial results since 1893, and we will certainly present a very good result this calendar year as well.”
Some reports estimate that €139.5m was spent on revamping the MHPArena, with just €58.5m covered by local government. Sales like Woltemade’s have therefore done wonders to balance the books.
The transfer also allowed Stuttgart to go out and buy Badredine Bouanani, Tiago Tomas and Lorenz Assignon, from Nice, Wolfsburg and Rennes respectively.
The MHPArena has undergone a significant upgrade (Image credit: Getty Images)
In FourFourTwo’s opinion, Stuttgart’s operation shows just how important it can be for clubs lower down the food chain to sell at the right time, but hold out for the right price.
It won’t, however, be lost on Newcastle fans that their club are funding another club’s stadium expansion – as part of a deal they were somewhat forced into making – while the status of their own new proposed ground is still in the works.
There have been plenty of questions over the governance of the Magpies at board level in recent times; dealing with such a slick operation in Stuttgart won’t help soothe those concerns.
Woltemade is valued at €30m, according to Transfermarkt. Newcastle next face Wolverhampton Wanderers, when Premier League action returns this weekend.
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