Stuttgart fire back with sarcastic response to Bayern Munich chief's 'idiot' jibe over Nick Woltemade's transfer to Newcastle

The Bavarians had shortlisted Woltemade as their top target of the summer transfer window and submitted multiple bids. Those proposals were firmly turned down by Die Schwaben and the Magpies swooped in to lure the German forward to the Premier League. Bayern ultimately abandoned the plan and instead secured the services of Luis Diaz, who joined from Liverpool for €70m. On deadline day, they also finalised the loan of striker Nicolas Jackson from Chelsea.

Rummenigge had previously spoken in an interview on Blickpunkt Sport about the ultimately unsuccessful attempt by the German record champions to bring Woltemade to the club during the last transfer window. The 70-year-old also took the opportunity to take a dig at Newcastle.

"When the story with Woltemade and Stuttgart's demands came up, at some point I said to Uli [Hoeness], Herbert Hainer, Jan Dreesen and Max Eberl: 'Guys, we're getting into sums of money that I simply don't find acceptable anymore,'" Rummenigge said.

He joked that one could only "congratulate Stuttgart for finding an idiot – in quotation marks – who paid so much money," adding: "Because we certainly wouldn't have done that in Munich."

"We are always delighted to receive congratulations from Munich," said Alexander Wehrle, chairman of the Swabian club, with a wink to Bild.

From a personal perspective, Woltemade's start at his new club has gone well. The German international has already scored two goals in five appearances for Newcastle. However, the Magpies have only won one of their six league games so far and are currently languishing in 15th place in the Premier League.

Additional reporting by Christian Guinin.