Nick Woltemade was at the centre of a transfer tussle earlier this summer with Newcastle United winning the race for his signature.
That sparked frustration among the camp at Bayern Munich who had wanted Woltemade to join the club alongside Florian Wirtz before both players chose Premier League switches.
The Bundesliga heavyweights have seemingly been stewing on that snub since it transpired, and they made their feelings known recently through club chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
The German branded Newcastle’s decision to spend big on the frontman “idiocy” as they splashed out as much as £69million.
Woltemade had performed admirably at VFB Stuttgart and managed 18 goals in 36 appearances for the club before he moved.
But Rummenigge, obviously still scorned, said: “When this story with Woltemade and then the demands of Stuttgart came up, I, as well as Uli Hoeneß, Herbert Hainer, Jan Dreesen, and Max Eberl, said, ‘Guys, we’re reaching figures that I no longer find acceptable.
‘We shouldn’t meet every demand to make someone happy, especially the financiers at Stuttgart.’
“I can only congratulate the people in Stuttgart for finding – let me use quotation marks here – ‘an idiot’ who paid that much money, because we certainly wouldn’t have done that in Munich.”
Nick Woltemade responds to Bayern ‘idiot’ criticism of Newcastle move
Woltemade’s form at St James’ Park – six goals in 14 so far – has quietened the noise but the German international wanted to clear his own conscience and clapped back.
The big forward acknowledged that the Bayern executive having such a negative say was “unfortunate”.
However he did not seem overly fussed and admitted it was his Magpies teammates who had been offended at times on his behalf.
“My teammates commented on it, I didn’t. I think that was the right thing to do. A lot was made of my name, Bayern, and transfer fee during the summer.
“That was the story of the summer. To answer your question: The headlines everywhere said ‘idiots,’ but I read Mr Rummenigge’s entire statement – it was certainly somewhat unfortunate, but not quite so dramatic.”
Other stars who have silenced Premier League critics
The German international Woltemade – who has seven caps and three goals in those fixtures – is not the first and he won’t be the last player who has been criticised for making a particular transfer move.
Nor will the 23-year-old be the last star to silence those same doubters.
Many footballers have been questioned over switching from one club to another and it is often that the Premier League is at the centre of it all.
Alleged money-grabbing moves, leaving one club for different and more difficult competition, wanting to play in a competitive league against the world’s best.
Some came with much higher controversy than this one and for different reasons.
We at FootballBlog can bring you a handful of players who shut those critics up who had doubted their big moves.
Harry Kewell (Leeds to Liverpool)
Kewell was blasted for leaving Leeds United to make a move to Liverpool in 2003. His switch came after he had put the Whites’ staff on blast on his way out, accusing them of “betrayal”.
The Australian’s loyalty was then questioned by his former club but he didn’t allow that to bring him down and he became a fan favourite at Anfield.
Kewell made 139 appearances for the Reds, scoring 16 and providing the same number of assists.
Pierre van Hooijdonk (Nottingham Forest to Vitesse Arnhem)
The big Dutchman had an acrimonious departure from Nottingham Forest after he went on strike in 1998 and refused to play for the club.
He claimed they had reneged on an agreement he and the club had made over an agreement to allow him to leave and he left fans furious before eventually getting his desired exit.
Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Manchester United)
Another Dutch forward who made enemies upon leaving a club.
RVP departed Arsenal 2012 before signing with fierce rivals Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson. It was a move which felt like a betrayal to Gunners fans who abused the player every chance they got.
It ended alright for the playmaker, though, as he would eventually win the Premier League title with the Red Devils in 2013.
He scored 58 goals in 105 appearances for United.
Carlos Tevez (Manchester United to Manchester City)
“Welcome to Manchester” is as infamous as it was genius when Man City ripped the mickey out of their noisy neighbours with an image of Tevez in light blue.
Tevez had won six trophies at Old Trafford including the Champions League and was expected to fail at City in terms of replicating that success.
Instead the forward won three pieces of silverware in four years before he left for Juventus.
Mo Johnston (Celtic to Rangers via Nantes)
Still considered one of Scottish football’s biggest betrayals, Johnston had enjoyed success at Celtic and won the Premiership and the Scottish Cup in his short stint at Parkhead.
He was due to rejoin the club after having spent time in France with Nantes and was even paraded by then-manager Billy McNeill ahead of his expected move.
But he would shake the landscape when Graeme Souness moved to bring him to Rangers instead – a club that did not sign Roman Catholics as a rule at the time.
MoJo would win the league twice at Ibrox.
Luis Figo (Barcelona to Real Madrid)
Arguably the most notorious on our list, Figo was a Barcelona superstar when Real Madrid president Florentino Perez promised to sign him at the Bernabeu.
Having lifted seven trophies at Barca, the Portuguese icon would go from hero to villain in an instant when he donned the famous Blanco of their rivals.
He had plenty of items chucked at him in every derby clash – including a pig’s head – but he had the last laugh.
Figo silenced the critics with seven more winners’ medals including a Champions League victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the 2002 final.
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