Whoever Newcastle United signed up top this past summer was always going to be subject to intense media scrutiny as they stepped into Alexander Isak’s boots.
But so far, Nick Woltemade is doing more than proving his doubters wrong, scoring three goals in four starts and producing some superb link up play since arriving in a club-record switch from Stuttgart.
This hasn’t gone done well back home in his native Germany, particularly with Bavarian giants Bayern Munich, who chased Woltemade’s signature for months but never managed to get their man.
And it’s unleashed a series of jibes towards us from the former Bayern Munich legend and board member Karl-Heinz Rumenigge, with both Eddie Howe and now Anthony Gordon leaping to Woltemade and the club’s defence.
Bizarre Bayern blasted
Bayern’s Karl-Heinz Rummenigge recently congratulated Stuttgart on the sale of Nick Woltemade, claiming they did very well to “”find an idiot” willing to pay £69m for the striker.
Petulant comments that paint Bayern in a poor light, and Newcastle star Anthony Gordon has hit back at those claims during a chat with the iPaper following our midweek win in the Champions League.
“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.”
Eddie Howe was the first to respond to the German’s words, expressing how happy he was with Woltemade’s arrival and initial performances, saying “He’s done really well. We’re really pleased to have him with us and the transfer fee is absolutely irrelevant.”
It certainly seems like sour grapes coming from Rummenigge, seemingly bitter that Bayern were unable to get the next rising star to emerge in the Bundesliga. And with their phenomenal track record of striker signings, it looks like we’ve pulled off a major coup in stealing Woltemade from their grasp.
Gordon hails “top” Woltemade
Wednesday night’s win was the first time that Gordon, Woltemade, and Anthony Elanga played together for the first time, and it’s no coincidence that our best possible front three delivered our best attacking performance of the season so far.
Gordon has a strong on-field partnership with Alexander Isak, but he has high hopes that he and his new teammate can be even more prolific together and as a trio with Elanga:
“They’re two completely different players so it’s going to take us time to get used to his style of play.”
“I think it’s the first time the front three have all started together so I think people need to give us time to gel and get to know each other’s games.
“But I thought Nick was top to be honest, the way he held the ball up under constant pressure. His hold up play, his link up play, he’s a pleasure to play with.”
