Nick Woltemade vs German media - Newcastle United man winning the war
Nick Woltemade has enjoyed a solid start to life at Newcastle United since his big-money move from Stuttgart.
Nick Woltemade has directly responded to the Bayern Munich criticism that followed his Newcastle United transfer.
German football was stunned when the Magpies stumped up £69million to sign the 23-year-old. Just 12 months earlier, Woltemade moved to Stuttgart on a free before enjoying a stellar breakout season.
Newcastle outmuscled Bundesliga giants Bayern in the market to make Woltemade their club-record signing. The Bavarians had a bid turned down, with the Magpies clinching the deal weeks later.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge attack
Many Bayern figures hit out at Woltemade and Newcastle once an agreement was reached. The most headline-making comments came from club icon and board member Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who labelled United as “idiots” for the transfer fee.
“I'll be honest, when this story with Woltemade and then the demand from Stuttgart came up, I, as well as Uli, Herbert Hainer, Jan Dreesen, and Max Eberl, said - folks, we're slowly getting to a level that I simply don't find acceptable anymore,” he said. “I can only congratulate those in Stuttgart for finding - I'll use quotation marks here - an idiot who paid that much money. Because we certainly wouldn't have done that in Munich.”
Nick Woltemade responds
Two months on, Woltemade is winning the war of words with his actions alone. Despite a lack of service at Newcastle, the German has bagged six goals to enjoy a solid start in black-and-white stripes.
In true classy fashion, Woltemade - whose two strikes for the national team also made the media look foolish - has defused the situation. He told reporters yesterday: “My teammates commented on it, I didn't. I think that was the right thing to do. A lot was made of my name, Bayern, and transfer fee during the summer.
“That was the story of the summer. To answer your question: The headlines everywhere said ‘idiots,’ but I read Mr Rummenigge's entire statement - it was certainly somewhat unfortunate, but not quite so dramatic."
‘Transfer fee irrelevant’ - Eddie Howe
Hitting back at the Bayern critics, Eddie Howe defended Woltemade over a price tag that is out of his hands. He told reporters: "It's irrelevant, really. The market forces dictate transfers fees – not necessarily any one club.
"We're very pleased to have Nick with us. I think he's started very strongly in what has been a difficult period for him because he's been thrust straight into action with no training time of note with us. He's done really well. We're really pleased to have him with us and the transfer fee is absolutely irrelevant."