Woltemade leaves Newcastle as Fernandez-Pardo joins late

Newcastle wrapped up a chaotic summer with two different forward moves on deadline day: the club confirmed Matias Fernandez-Pardo as their final signing, while Nick Woltemade finalized his loan switch to Juventus the same afternoon.

A summer of change

According to BBC Sport, Fernandez-Pardo was Newcastle’s main target for much of the window, but the deal only came together in the last stages after delicate negotiations with Lille. The arrival also lands in a wider reset on Tyneside, where Eddie Howe stepped down in July and was replaced by Matthias Jaissle just weeks before the new campaign.

Newcastle also saw major departures, including Bruno Guimaraes, alongside eight new signings—efforts shaped by both sporting disappointment and the club’s need to comply with financial rules.

Why the finish mattered

Earlier in the process, the club had already prepared for change: as BBC Sport notes, Newcastle announced Kieran Trippier would leave at the end of his contract in early April. The previous season’s outcome—Newcastle finishing 12th and missing out on European football—made the stakes of the summer feel even higher.

The late rush helped shift the mood inside the fanbase. Season ticket holder Adam Widdrington said the final three signings altered the narrative, adding that after a rough period in the summer “it didn’t feel like there was so much to inspire the fans,” but the signings changed opinions.

Fernandez-Pardo, meanwhile, is viewed as a better stylistic match for the way Newcastle play—BBC Sport reports that Jaissle has already pointed to the forward’s “explosiveness” and insisted, before a ball was even kicked this season, that “We always have hope and belief.”