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NICK WOLTEMADE has become Newcastle’s new record signing – as Alexander Isak’s dream move to Liverpool edges closer.

The Magpies have forked out £69m to Stuttgart for the giant 6ft 6in German international, 23, to end their summer-long pursuit of a new frontman.

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Now they will ramp up efforts to bring in either Wolves star Jorgen Strand Larsen or Brentford’s wantaway Yoane Wissa before Monday’s deadline day as on-strike Isak sweats on his future.

Woltemade, Eddie Howe’s fifth recruit this summer and who will wear the No27 shirt, said: “I’m really happy to be at this amazing club. From the first contact, I felt like the club really wanted me and had big plans for me.

“It’s a big step in my life to leave Germany but everybody has welcomed me so well and it already feels like family.

“I have a really good feeling from speaking to the head coach that this is the right place for me to find my best level.

“I know the stadium from watching games on television – it looks amazing and I know the atmosphere is crazy. I’m really excited to play and start scoring goals here.”

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe added: “We’re delighted to get Nick’s signing over the line so quickly. He fits the profile for exactly what we have been looking to add to our attacking options.

“He’s strong in a lot of areas – he has great technical ability and has proven himself to be a real threat in one of Europe’s top leagues – but he’s also still at an age where he has plenty of room to develop and grow here.

“Nick is a great character too and we’re really pleased to welcome him to the group.”

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Woltemade, who has penned a contract until 2031, is not believed to have been registered in time to face Leeds today but could make his debut against Wolves in a fortnight.

The two-time capped German international was top scorer at this summer’s U21 Euros with six goals but suffered defeat in the final to England – who had new team-mate Tino Livramento in their line-up.

He makes the big-money move to the North East after just one season with Stuttgart, having joined them from Werder Bremen on a free transfer just 12 months ago.

He scored 17 goals in all competitions last term, including a crucial goal in the DFB-Pokal final – which Stuttgart went on to win.

Woltemade could watch Toon in action at Elland Road today before linking up with the Germany squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, we revealed Liverpool are expected to make a record bid for Isak in the coming days after club chiefs sanctioned a £130m bid for the 25-year-old.

Newcastle have already rejected one offer worth £110m and are refusing to sell unless they get a replacement 

Isak, who is refusing to play for Newcastle and training alone, reiterated his desire to leave this week to Toon’s Saudi chiefs.

Now he will be praying that Howe can get Wissa or Strand Larsen over the line to finally secure his departure.

Elsewhere, eighth seed Amanda Anisimova made it safely through to the second round by beating Australian Kim Birrell 6-3 6-2.

American Anisimova, playing her first Grand Slam match since being beaten 6-0 6-0 by Swiatek in the Wimbledon final, hit 17 unforced errors in the opening set but improved markedly in the second.

She won the last five games of the match to set up a second-round meeting with another Australian, teenager Maya Joint.

However, her compatriot Danielle Collins made an early exit for the second consecutive year, winning just two games as she was beaten by Jacqueline Cristian of Romania.

World number 50 Cristian prevailed 6-2 6-0 against 2019 Australian Open semi-finalist Collins, who was hampered by a back injury.

Meanwhile, two-time champion Naomi Osaka – seeded 23rd – cruised past Belgium’s Greet Minnen in a 6-3 6-4 win.

Russian Diana Shnaider, the 20th seed, also went out after Germany’s Laura Siegemund secured a 7-6 (7-3) 2-6 6-3 victory over the 21-year-old.

All eyes have been on Draper this week as he takes on the pressure of being the great British hope with Wimbledon approaching at the end of this month.

The 23-year-old has said he is comfortable dealing with that weight of expectation, and underlined that belief with this battling display.

He did, however, start slowly as a run of 11 consecutive points for Popyrin – briefly interrupted by an unexpected sudden gust of wind that sent a hat and bits of paper on to the court – led to the Australian taking the first set.

It was the second match in a row where Draper has taken his time to get into his groove and he revealed he had been struggling a bit with illness this week.

“I’ve not been feeling great actually, to be honest, the last day and a half,” he told BBC Sport.

“I was a bit flat out there. My body feels good but I was a bit under the weather.”

Draper will have his eyes firmly set on claiming a maiden title at Queen’s but he will have another incentive to keep progressing as reaching the semi-finals will mean he is seeded fourth at Wimbledon.

That would mean avoiding facing the likes of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and world number one Jannik Sinner.

“It’s obviously a big thing,” Draper said. “I think it would definitely help. But at the same time, I don’t think I will think about that at all.

“I can’t control who I’m playing, can’t control any of those things, but I can control what I do between now and the next match, and I’ll prepare the best I can.”

Britain’s Ethan Vernon edged out compatriot Matthew Brennan to win stage two of the Volta a Catalunya for Israel–Premier Tech.

The 24-year-old crossed the line half a wheel ahead of Brennan after a closely contested sprint finish in Figueres.

Brennan, 19, remains top of the general classification after his stunning victory on stage one.

Tuesday’s 177.3km stage, which began in Banyoles, also built towards a dramatic finish and Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Kaden Groves and Axel Laurance of Ineos Grenadiers led the way with 150m to go.

But Vernon timed his sprint perfectly to surge past them and take it on the line, just ahead of Visma-Lease a Bike’s Brennan.

The teenage Brit holds a six-second overall lead over second-placed Groves before the Volta’s first mountain stage – a 218.6km ride from Viladecans to La Molina – on Wednesday.

The seven-stage race concludes in Barcelona on Sunday.

One source with knowledge of the inner workings of Leeds explained the issue the club had on their last three-year stay in the Premier League was that then-owner Andrea Radrizzani just didn’t have the funds to kick on.

Radrizzani’s shares were bought by the 49ers Enterprises when they took over Leeds in the summer of 2023, The investment arm of the American football franchise San Francisco 49ers is also attempting to buy a significant stake in Glasgow Rangers.

They proved that they have the finance by methodically working through what has been described as the massive ‘credit card bill’ of instalment payments for transfers from a sizeable churn of players in and out of Elland Road.

Doubtless they will have a plan for this summer and beyond.

However, there are two issues that are inescapable.

Firstly, Leeds are hamstrung by the knowledge two seasons in the EFL slices £44m off the maximum £105m three-year loss limit that applies to the rest of the Premier League.

And beyond that, how much will survival actually cost?

For the second year running, the three teams that were promoted from the Championship are looking likely to go straight back down.

Two of them, Leicester and Southampton, have far more recent top flight experience than Leeds. Their struggles prove jumping up from the Championship – even with the benefit of parachute payments – is one thing, staying there is another matter entirely.

Leeds clearly need at least one striker. They sold Georginio Rutter to Brighton for £40m in August, which sets a benchmark for a decent Premier League forward.

When you start adding in creative midfielders, full-backs and a goalkeeper – Illan Meslier added another mistake to this season’s ‘crime sheet’ by scoring an own goal to give Sheffield United the lead on Monday – the millions rack up.

Two of Farke’s mainstays, Joe Rothwell and Manor Solomon, are on loan and will need to be bought or replaced, so the bill for a decent shot at survival is going to be astronomical.

World number one Judd Trump defeated three-time champion John Higgins 6-5 in a final-frame decider to book his place in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship at the Barbican in York.

A hard-fought opening to the match with several tactical exchanges left the scores level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval, with the contest becoming more fluent thereafter.

Trump crafted a superb break of 111 and also made two half centuries to lead 5-4, but Higgins, who made breaks of 58 and 106 forced an 11th frame with a composed 66 under pressure.

However, a loose safety shot from the Scot was heavily punished by Trump, who sealed his victory with a wonderful century.

“It is nice to do it when it really matters like in the last frame, it was a great break,” Trump told BBC Sport.

“When the real pressure is on is probably when I produce my best stuff. The game was too slow and I wanted to speed it up and start taking more balls on. It is a big tournament and sometimes you try too hard at the start.”

He will now face China’s Zhang Anda on Friday evening, after the 32-year-old produced a stirring fightback from 5-1 down to beat Stuart Bingham 6-5.

The Englishman had signalled his intent in the opening frame with a superb break of 101 and raced into a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.

Bingham, who needed the UK title to complete the Triple Crown, compiled a break of 105 to go 4-1 up, with his bid for a maximum 147 breaking down after he had potted 14 reds and 13 blacks.

However, after also losing the next frame, Zhang rallied and enjoyed runs of 81, 70 and 108 to force a decider before completing the remarkable turnaround in a tense finale.