- Basler criticises Woltemade’s move to Newcastle
- Ex-Bayern star believes German star will fail in England
- 56-year-old wanted Stuttgart forward to join Bavarians
Basler believes Woltemade will have a tough time in the Premier League and that he should have either stayed in Stuttgart or joined Bundesliga giants Bayern. The Bundesliga champions made many attempts to buy him from Stuttgart, but were rejected each time. Stuttgart insisted that the player would stay at the club for another season, but Newcastle’s approach at the end of August convinced them to let him go.
Newcastle turned to Woltemade to replace Swedish hitman Alexander Isak, who made a move to Liverpool. The Magpies paid a hefty sum of £69 million ($93m) to the Bundesliga outfit in the process and the move was criticised by Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeness, who stated that the Premier League side have overpaid in signing the player. Now, Basler has criticised the transfer on his podcast, predicting the 23-year-old will fail in England.
Basler said: “Uli Hoeness said it correctly in Doppelpass: Woltemade isn’t worth €90 million. And he’ll have big problems in Newcastle. I don’t think Woltemade will prevail in Newcastle. In my opinion, this move was the wrong one for Woltemade. Either he should have stayed in Stuttgart for another year or he should have gone to Munich. It all happened very quickly. An offer came in, and he was gone immediately. I think that was a huge mistake for the career of this young man, who certainly played a great six months. I think it was the wrong move. It wasn’t the step for his career that would move him forward.”
He also suggested Woltemade could find himself on the bench if he does not thrive immediately in the Premier League, saying: “We saw that with [Niclas] Fullkrug [at West Ham], who eventually stopped playing.”
Woltemade is yet to feature for Newcastle, but could make his debut against Wolves at St James’ Park on Saturday.
