The Mainz 05 Sporting Director has been talking about their rising star Kacper Potulski, amidst interest from Newcastle United.
The teenage defender has made giant strides these past 12 months with the Bundesliga club and his national side.
After a youth career in his native Poland, a then 15-year-old Kacper Potulski signed for Mainz 05 in summer 2023.
Still only 17 when the 2025/26 Bundesliga season kicked off, the 6ft 5 central defender swiftly found himself moving up from playing for the reserve side to turning out for the first team.
Despite his tender years, Kacper Potulski made 23 first team appearances last season for Mainz 05.
So rapid was his progress that having played all the way through the various youth levels with Poland, that in late May (2026) he was called up to the senior side and played against both Ukraine and Nigeria. At the age of 18 and 277 days, Kacper Potulski became the fourth youngest ever goalscorer for Poland, scoring in the 2-2 draw with Poland.
As well as Newcastle United, Bayer Leverkusen have also shown interest, but the Mainz 05 Sporting Director claims that they are definitely going to keep the Poland international for at least a little while longer.
Christian Heidel telling Bild that with Kacper Potulski: “The fairytale is not over yet, it is not our intention to let him go [at the moment] and he will not leave this summer]. He has to play now and establish himself as a regular starter with us.”
As has been widely reported previously, Newcastle United targeting young talented players on the continent who are in the early stages of their senior careers. With 20-year-old goalkeeper Ewen Jaouen already signed in a £24m deal and missing out to Liverpool on 22-year-old winger Victor Munoz despite having their offer accepted by Osasuna, Kacper Potulski certainly fits the bill in terms of trying to sign young up and coming potential stars of the future.
The message from the Mainz 05 Sporting Director appears to be that they want to progress the central defender’s career further before eventually selling him, thus getting a significantly higher transfer fee. Reality is that it all comes down to money and if Newcastle United, or any other club, make a tempting enough offer this summer, you can see a deal getting done.
Kacper Potulski has a contract with Mainz 05 that has another two years left to run.