Woltemade praised by Newcastle manager after ‘idiot buy’ accusation
BRUSSELS :Nick Woltemade was praised by Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe for his performance in the 4-0 thumping of Union Saint-Gilloise on Wednesday, days after the club were called "idiots" for signing the striker for a reported 65 million pounds ($88 million).
Woltemade got the opening goal before Newcastle went on to record a rare away triumph in European club competition and secure their first points of this season’s Champions League campaign.
The 23-year-old German international got a deflection to Sandro Tonali’s shot to put his side ahead after 17 minutes and Newcastle did not look back after that as they proved far too strong for the Belgian champions.
“Yeah, I thought he performed really well today as always with Nick,” said Howe.
“I'm obviously learning about his game all the time like everyone else... because we've had very limited training time. I think you can see his link-up play is such a big part of what he does.
“I think you saw the two Anthonys (Elanga and Gordon) get a lot of ball because of him and of course the team.
“I'm not sure he’ll score many like he did today, if that's credited to him, but I'm pleased he's got it because that'll just help him feel even more embedded into our team.”
Bayern Munich board member and former World Cup winner, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, had said Newcastle were "idiots" for meeting VfB Stuttgart's asking price for the striker.
Bayern had also been interested in signing him but dropped out of the running due to the fee quoted by their Bundesliga rivals.
Howe stayed away from any potential spat in Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, saying: "The market forces dictate transfer fees, and it is not necessarily any one club.”
And after Wednesday’s game, he enthused over Woltemade’s eagerness to take the first of two penalties Newcastle were awarded.
The German was held back by teammate Joelinton to allow designated kicker Anthony Gordon to convert.
“I love it,” Howe said when asked about Woltemade’s desire to take the penalty. “The best striker that I've seen and worked with wants a score. And even if there is a directive, they don't care. They still want to score.
“They want that responsibility because that's what they live to do. So I've got no issue with that.”
($1 = 0.7423 pounds)
($1 = 0.7423 pounds)
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
