Overview

• Newcastle manager Eddie Howe called Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s remark irrelevant and said market forces set prices ahead of the club’s Champions League trip to Union Saint-Gilloise.
• Rummenigge had congratulated VfB Stuttgart for finding an “idiot” to pay the money Bayern would not, after Newcastle signed Nick Woltemade for a reported fee of up to €90 million.
• Howe praised Woltemade’s early impact and downplayed pressure from the price tag, noting the striker was thrust into action with little training time.
• England’s Sun newspaper rebuked Rummenigge, accusing him of sour grapes and labeling the Bayern figure a bad loser.
• Further reactions in Germany included Uli Hoeneß likening Newcastle’s spending to Monopoly and Stuttgart chief Alexander Wehrle offering an ironic thank-you for the congratulations.