Jamie Carragher has branded Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge ‘a joke’ for his ‘disrespectful’ remarks about Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade. The German giants pursued Woltemade throughout the summer transfer window but balked at Stuttgart’s valuation for their star man.
Newcastle then swooped late in the window to secure his signature in a club record £69million deal. Rummenigge labelled United ‘idiots’ for splashing out such a hefty sum and he joins several Bayern Munich figures who have publicly criticised the Woltemade transfer. Yet the German international keeps delivering his answer where it matters most – on the football pitch.
The 23-year-old became just the third Magpies striker since Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand to find the net in each of his opening three home Premier League matches after netting the second goal in their 2-0 triumph over Nottingham Forest.
This came after the forward got off the mark in the Champions League during the week. And Carragher hopes Woltemade keeps making Bayern look silly with his displays in black and white stripes.
“I really like him and I actually saw that quote a few days ago and it angered me and I am not a Newcastle United supporter,” Carragher told Sky Sports.
“I think it is a joke really coming from someone who is part of a football club, in terms of Bayern Munich, a really respected football club.
“He shouldn’t be speaking about, especially, another German player like that so disrespectfully. That would have been all over the news in Germany and his family and friends are there.
“That is our job, we are pundits, not somebody who is associated with such a fantastic club. That is really disrespectful and when I saw that I thought: ‘Do you know what? I really hope that lad shoves those words down his mouth’.
“And at the start of his Premier League career it looks like he is going to do.”