Toni Kroos makes Newcastle transfer statement after Nick Woltemade swoop

Former Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos has shared his thoughts on Newcastle United's rumoured pursuit of Nick Woltemade - mere days after declaring his intention to purchase a membership at St James' Park.

The 35-year-old was utterly mesmerised by Newcastle's valiant display against Liverpool on Monday and made the surprising announcement on his podcast.

Eddie Howe's men, who battled through the entire second period with ten players, fought back from a two-goal deficit to level at 2-2 before the Magpies were dealt a crushing blow with a late injury-time strike in a 3-2 defeat.

"Newcastle vs Liverpool, just to say that again briefly for the few people here who haven't seen it, we're talking about that right now," the former Germany international revealed.

"I'm going to sign up as a Newcastle member today. (It was not) just the atmosphere, but also the team.

"You can do that in Germany (become a member) too, right? Is it different there? I don't know how it is, but if it's possible, please do it. They completely captivated me. I read a quote from Jamie Carragher, and I often disagree, but I have to say, he said that it was one of the worst performances in history from a winning team, and one of the best performances in history from a losing team. I agree with that.

"They're playing really well and, out of nowhere, as often happens against such favourites, they go 0-1 down. Boom. They get a red card. You come out (in the second half), 15 seconds down (it goes) 0-2.

"You're playing against the champions, the best team in England, trailing 0-2 and one man down. And what happened in the 45th, no, 55th minutes, was insane.

"I've rarely seen a team stay so active with 10 men, even at the risk of conceding six, seven, or eight at the end when you're somehow open. And then in the second half, not sitting back and saying, 'Please not the third, please not the fourth' and somehow making it 2-2. You think you've seen everything in football. But it's really incredibly rare that you, an underdog team against the favourites, play like that."

Merely days following Kroos's admission regarding Newcastle, the Magpies have opted to secure Stuttgart striker Nick Woltemade.

Howe's squad have finalised a £60.5million agreement for the 23-year-old, who touched down in Newcastle on Thursday before completing his switch to St James' Park.

A mere fluke? Kroos has subsequently addressed suggestions of a potential link between his declaration about purchasing Newcastle membership and Woltemade's transfer to the North East.

The midfielder, boasting 13 million followers, posted on X: "This can't all be a coincidence."

Woltemade is poised to become Newcastle's second German signing this summer, following Malik Thiaw's substantial transfer from AC Milan during the current window. He netted 17 goals in 33 outings for Stuttgart last term and Bayern Munich were amongst the clubs chasing his signature.

Nevertheless, Vincent Kompany's outfit withdrew from the pursuit, giving Newcastle a clear path.

Discussing Newcastle's transfer activity and the acquisition of Woltemade during Friday's press conference, Howe remarked: "We are still looking because I think there is an opportunity to improve the squad further.

"Small steps, let's get the deal we are working on now done first."