Newcastle United Nick Woltemade doubt as Eddie Howe hits back over 'irrelevant' transfer claim
Newcastle United head coach Eddie Howe is set to ‘make a decision’ on Nick Woltemade ahead of the Champions League clash against Union Saint-Gilloise.
Eddie Howe has hit back at the ‘irrelevant’ Bayern Munich comments regarding Nick Woltemade’s £65million club record move to Newcastle United.
The 23-year-old has scored twice in three starts for Newcastle in the Premier League but is still waiting to make his full debut in the Champions League. Woltemade came off the bench and played a role in Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 2-1 defeat to Barcelona last time out in the competition at St James’ Park.
But Woltemade is yet to start consecutive games for Newcastle since his £65million summer signing from VfB Stuttgart. The forward started and scored in the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
But when asked whether Woltemade was ready to start three days later in Belgium, Howe raised doubts as he responded: “We'll make a decision after training today on how all the players look physically.
“Arsenal was another really physical game for us, tough game mentally of course, but physically it was a big output game for us. So we'll try and make the right decisions in terms of team selection to make sure everyone's fresh.”
Eddie Howe on Nick Woltemade
Woltemade has scored two headers for Newcastle in what have been his only efforts on target for the club so far.
“Great to see him score with his head,” Howe said. “As I said when we signed him, we know he's a big player and that has to be a source of goals for him with the height that he brings.
“It's something we feel or felt we could really improve, but the two headers are all his own work and he deserves the praise for them because they're two outstanding moments.
“It shows that hopefully once the team services him and gives him better balls in and around the box, there's other ways he can score as well, but it's certainly a promising start.”
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Fresh Nick Woltemade criticism
This past week has seen Woltemade and Newcastle subject to criticism from Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who labelled The Magpies ‘idiots’ for the fee paid for they paid for the forward.
Rummenigge told Blickpunkt Sport: “I'll be honest: When this story with Woltemade and then the demand from Stuttgart came up, I, said as well as Uli Hoeness folks, we're slowly getting to a level that I simply don't find acceptable anymore.
"We shouldn't fulfill every demand to make someone happy, especially the financiers at VfB Stuttgart.
"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."
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Eddie Howe hits back
When questioned about Rummenigge’s comments, Howe defended the money Newcastle paid for Woltemade.
“I always think of these types of things as irrelevant really,” Howe said. “The market forces Nick to take transfer fees, not necessarily any one club. We're very pleased to have Nick with us. I think he's started very strongly in what's been a difficult period for him because he's thrust straight into action.
“No training time with us really of any note. I think he's done really, really well. So we're really pleased to have him with us and the transfer fee for me is absolutely irrelevant.
“I don't think he's that kind of character [who is bothered about the price tag]. I don't think he necessarily overthinks things too much which is a really big strength.
“Whatever we've paid for him is irrelevant. What is going to be judged on is how he performs in the team and what he gives to the club going forward, so I would urge any footballer to try and dust that off, but it's easier said than done because I've seen players myself be weighed down by either the fee or the expectation, but he's very relaxed.