Eddie Howe responds to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge over Newcastle United ‘idiots’ claim | OneFootball

Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe has responded to Bayern Munich’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge claim that the Premier League club were ‘idiots’ for spending €85m to sign Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade in the summer.

Speaking in Tuesday’s press conference ahead of Newcastle’s UEFA Champions League game against Union Saint-Gilloise, Howe said: “It’s irrelevant, really. The market forces dictate 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 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.”

Bayern Munich failed in their pursuit to sign Woltemade – who has scored two Premier League goals in three appearances since his arrival on Tyneside – after failing to meet Stuttgart’s asking price.

Speaking on Bayern’s failed pursuit, Rummenigge said: “I can only congratulate the people in Stuttgart for finding – let me use quotation marks here – ‘an idiot’ who paid that much money, because we certainly wouldn’t have done that in Munich.”

GGFN | Daniel Pinder