'Unfortunate' - Nick Woltemade breaks silence on Bayern Munich links & Newcastle United 'idiots' taunt
Nick Woltemade has issued a classy response to the media criticism he received upon joining Newcastle United instead of Bayern Munich in the summer.
Newcastle United were branded ‘idiots’ by Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge after signing Nick Woltemade from VfB Stuttgart for a club record £65million fee.
Bayern had previously attempted to sign the 23-year-old forward before Newcastle swooped in and agreed a lucrative deal. It came after Woltemade had joined Stuttgart on a free transfer the previous summer.
But the German international got his Newcastle career off to a strong start with six goals in 12 starts for his new club, including five in his first six. Woltemade has also found his feet at international level with three goals in his last two appearances for the German national team.
Newcastle United called ‘idiots’ for paying Nick Woltemade fee
Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge contributed to the German media tirade lambasting Woltemade’s price tag after signing for Newcastle.
The 70-year-old 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 fulfil 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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Anthony Gordon hits back at German media criticism
Following Newcastle’s 4-0 win at Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League last month, Anthony Gordon also defended his new teammate from those Rummenigge comments, stating: “I don't know why you'd comment on a player who is not at your club.
“It's a bit stupid to be honest, especially when the player has started really well. Had he started really poorly then you make that comment, but he's scored three goals in four games, so it was a bit of a weird comment.”
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Nick Woltemade responds directly to Rummenigge's comments
When asked directly about Rummenigge’s comments and the ‘idiots’ remark while on international duty with Germany, Woltemade responded: “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."
Woltemade and Germany now prepare to face Slovakia in their final World Cup qualifier on Monday night as they look to secure automatic qualification by avoiding defeat. The Newcastle striker will be looking to score for a third successive international match.
The Magpies return to Premier League action against Manchester City at St James’ Park on Saturday (5:30pm kick-off) where they will be looking to end a run of back-to-back league defeats. Newcastle sit 14th in the Premier League with 12 points from their opening 11 league games.