Overview

• Newcastle signed Nick Woltemade from Stuttgart for a reported club‑record sum, with figures ranging from €85m to roughly €90m (£64.9m).
• Bayern pursued the striker through the summer but walked away when Stuttgart’s valuation climbed beyond what club leaders considered acceptable.
• Karl‑Heinz Rummenigge said he could “congratulate Stuttgart for finding ‘an idiot’ who paid that much money,” adding Bayern would not have matched the price.
• He criticized the rapid rise in fees and wages and cited state- or billionaire-owned teams in England as shifting the competitive balance.
• Woltemade has begun contributing at Newcastle with 3 goals in 8 appearances, including one in a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.