Nick Woltemade is making a mockery of the criticism he’s getting back home in Germany during the start of his Newcastle United career.
Woltemade scored again for Newcastle United on Wednesday, after further digs about his price tag emerged from another Bayern Munich legend.
Not long after their honorary president Uli Hoeneß claimed Newcastle spent too much money on Woltemade, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge got in on the act.
Rummenigge said Newcastle were idiotic to pay so much money for Woltemade, who arrived from Stuttgart in a club-record deal back in August.
While it’s clear that the club paid a lot of money for a player still in development, the German international is proving worth it thus far.
His goal in Newcastle’s 4-0 win over Union Saint-Gilloise took him to three for the season already, proving the doubters in his own country wrong.
After the game, Eddie Howe was asked about it all.
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How Nick Woltemade feels about Bayern Munich digs
The Newcastle United manager was speaking in Brussels after the game.
He was asked about the comments from Germany and opened up on what Woltemade has been like behind the scenes.
“I don’t see that being a big motivator for Nick,” he said in his post-match press conference.
“I think, again, people will always discuss transfer fees and all the things that go into a transfer.
“I think for a player, it’s all about just trying to commit to what you’re being asked to do and doing your best.
“He’s seemed very good in that respect off the pitch. He’s not seemed too unsettled, he’s just come in from another country and just trains every day with very little fuss.
“But he wants to improve and wants to help the team. I think as long as he has those qualities, he’ll do very well here.”
Bayern Munich are furious about Nick Woltemade
Bayern wanted to sign Woltemade but couldn’t agree a deal with Stuttgart, which perhaps explains some of their comments.
Indeed, the Bavarian giants constantly cherry-pick the best talents from their divisional rivals but couldn’t do so with Woltemade, or with Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz when he left Bayer Leverkusen.
Perhaps Newcastle did overpay for Woltemade but, with Alexander Isak forcing a move away, they didn’t really have all that much choice. Right now, it appears as if the money has been well spent.
Interestingly, it has been claimed that Bayern are angry that they couldn’t sign Woltemade.
It’s all starting to sound like very sour grapes.
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