Bayern Munich chief brands Newcastle 'IDIOTS' for stumping up £65m for Nick Woltemade - despite his impressive start with Magpies

Bayern Munich legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has insisted Newcastle are 'idiots' for paying a £65million fee to sign Nick Woltemade in the summer transfer window.

The Magpies signed the forward from Stuttgart in a club record deal in the final days of the transfer window, with Alexander Isak then completing a protracted £125million move to Liverpool.

Woltemade has made an impressive start to life on Tyneside with the 23-year-old having scored two goals in his three Premier League appearances to date.

The German international had been a target of reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich during the transfer window, with expectation he would serve as back-up to Harry Kane.

Bayern board member Max Eberl had publicly confirmed their interest in completing a deal, with the German giants then seeing three bids turned down by Stuttgart.

Stuttgart had ruled out Woltemade's departure from the club, only for Newcastle to swoop in the final days of the transfer window.

Rummenigge, a supervisory board member at Bayern, has continued the club's recent digs at Newcastle and Woltemade since the deal was completed.

'I'll be honest: When this story with Woltemade and then the demand from Stuttgart came up, I, as well as Uli, Herbert Hainer, Jan Dreesen, and Max Eberl, said - folks, we're slowly getting to a level that I simply don't find acceptable anymore,' he told the BR programme 'Blickpunkt Sport'.

'We shouldn't fulfill every demand to make someone happy, especially the financiers at VfB Stuttgart.

'I can only congratulate those in Stuttgart for finding - I'll use quotation marks here - an idiot who paid that much money. Because we certainly wouldn't have done that in Munich.'

Reports from Germany following Woltemade's move to Newcastle had claimed Bayern had been left 'surprised and disappointed' by his move.

Woltemade's decision had been referenced by several Bayern officials, with Rummenigge's comments following previous digs made by honorary president Uli Hoeness and sports director Christoph Freund.

'He [Woltemade] isn't worth the fee. That only happened because of the money flowing from Saudi Arabia,' Hoeness claimed last month.

Freund had suggested Woltemade had been attracted by the finances on offer in the Premier League, as he attempted to explain why a Bayern target had moved to Newcastle.

'Bayern Munich is Bayern Munich, a very, very big club,' Freund said last month. 'The boys can win titles here, we can offer them very interesting options internationally, and domestically as well.

'It's always the player's decision. We at Bayern Munich are very, very attractive, we notice that again and again when we talk to players. Financially, the Premier League is in a different league. You have discussions, you have a certain relationship.

'Ultimately, it's the player's decision as to what's the best step for his career. We're not involved in that.

'The sums of money involved; how much money is at stake; that they have brutal opportunities in the Premier League. Not just two or three clubs, many clubs. Newcastle is a good club, but not the top tier.'

Woltemade had joined Newcastle on a six-year deal after an impressive season at Stuttgart, where he had scored 17 goals in 33 matches in all competitions.

The forward’s performance had seen him break into Germany’s national team with the 23-year-old having earned four caps for his country.