Bayern boss: Newcastle are ‘idiots’ for buying Woltemade

Near the end of the June transfer window, Newcastle were left with only one recognizable striker for the upcoming Premier League season and the Champions League – William Osula. The young striker was poised to go on a loan but suddenly was the only attacking option for the Magpies. They have released Callum Wilson and Alexander Isak was on strike, promising never to play for Newcastle again if they don’t let him go to Liverpool. Yoan Wissa did the same to Brentford but the Bees didn’t want to let him go to St. James Park and the transfer clock was ticking. After missing on a number of targets (with Hugo Etikite being the biggest), the Magpies didn’t have other options but to overpay for a striker and everybody knew that. So, they paid 85 million euros for Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart and were labeled ‘idiots’ by Bayern Munich executive.

"I still feel sorry for Wirtz joining Liverpool"

The famous legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who is currently the member of Bayern’s board tried to sugarcoat the label he put on Newcastle by insisting the word ‘idiot’ should come with the quotation mark, but he knew his world would make an echo in the footballing world nevertheless.

“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. 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” he told the BR programme 'Blickpunkt Sport'.

Now, there are other players who costed the same amount of money and failed to fulfill their expectations (Darwin Nunez first comes to mind), but Liverpool were not branded ‘idiots’ for one simple reason – Bayern didn’t want to buy the Uruguayan striker. Before Woltemade came to Newcastle, there was no debate in Germany – Florian Wirtz and Stuttgart striker were the most talented young stars (Jamal Musiala is already established as top player) and Bayern wanted to sign them both, but failed. The Bavarians were ready to give up to 60 million (plus bonuses) for Woltemade, which is also a bit overpriced for a striker who had only one good season, but never branded themselves ‘idiots’. In fact they are so annoyed about the fact that they missed on those players that this is the third time this month that Bayern executives are mentioning them. This is Rummenigge's second time while honorary president Uli Hoenes said it once before him. Gone are the times when they could buy German jewels like Neuer or Kimmich or Goretzka for small amounts or even for free. And as for Woltemade, he has already scored two goals in his first three starts in the Premier League.