Jamie Redknapp didn’t think ‘unusual’ player would end up at Newcastle United this summer

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Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp admits he was sure that Newcastle United star Nick Woltemade was bound for Bayern Munich.

Newcastle United broke their transfer record to sign Woltemade from Stuttgart, and it’s believed that the deal could eventually rise to as high as £69million.

The 23-year-old finished as the top scorer in the U21 European Championships earlier this summer, although his Germany lost to Tino Livramento’s England in the final.

As such, Woltemade was hot property on the market. Bayern Munich tried to sign Woltemade, although honorary president Uli Hoeneß has since suggested Newcastle overpaid for the player.

While the German international still needs to fully adapt to life in the Premier League, he made a promising start by scoring the winner against Wolves on his debut earlier this month.

Redknapp, who was speaking before Newcastle United vs Arsenal on Sunday, gave his view. 

• Who is Nick Woltemade? The ‘two-metre Messi-Musiala’ Newcastle United broke transfer record to sign

Jamie Redknapp thought Nick Woltemade was going to sign for Bayern Munich

The former England international was speaking alongside Newcastle legend Les Ferdinand on Sky Sports ahead of the game.

He admitted he thought Bayern were bound to sign Woltemade, given their track record of signing the best German talent from their Bundesliga rivals.

Redknapp revealed he was excited to see the forward play against Arsenal and that he was predicting him to prove a success in the Premier League.

“I watched him at the U21s in the summer and I thought he was fantastic,” he said.

“I thought he’d go to Bayern Munich, so when I saw him come here I thought that’s going to be interesting.

“Because he is an unusual player. He can come in to drop deep, he’s not what I would call a typical Les Ferdinand number 9 who they’ve had here before.

“But he will definitely do well because he’s got a really good eye for a pass, he can dribble. I’m excited to see him today.”

Bayern Munich are furious that they didn’t sign Nick Woltemade

Despite Hoeneß making a slight dig at Woltemade’s transfer fee, it seems those inside the German giants are unhappy they couldn’t get a deal over the line.

Bayern ended up signing Nicolas Jackson as cover and competition for star man Harry Kane but he’s only on loan from Chelsea and there’s no guarantee it will ever become a permanent deal.

Indeed, according to journalist Danny Kelly, Bayern are furious they couldn’t sign Woltemade this summer.

“They thought he would be automatically straight into the Bayern squad, but part of the reason he didn’t go, of course, was because he knew he wouldn’t get game time up front [ahead of Harry Kane],” he said.

“He wants to play as a striker, and he didn’t go to Munich for that exact reason.”

“So Munich are furious with themselves and the boy for allowing this situation to develop.”