Stuttgart boss “kept the club’s overall interest in mind” during Woltemade sale

The Swabians’ boss admitted that there was deep internal debate on whether the talismanic striker should have been sold or kept.

Although Bayern Munich pushed hard for the signature of Nick Woltemade, the former VfB Stuttgart man inevitably ended up at Newcastle United for a base fee of €85million in summer. 

While it did set a new record transfer fee departure for the Swabians, CEO Alexander Wehrle admitted the club did consider rejecting the offer from England’s northern giants. 

“Of course we discussed it. Ultimately, however, our internally defined pain threshold was exceeded, which is why we went ahead with the transfer,” he told Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

Wehrle explained the offer was accepted to do justice to the “overall responsibility for VfB, which must always be taken into account when making difficult decisions,” said the 50-year-old.

Wehrle added that Stuttgart “will deal with exceptional offers – And even though the timing was very late, we must always keep the club’s overall interests in mind,” he continued. 

Finally, the CEO remarked that the club had “extraordinary and special transfer summer” that “was certainly not an everyday occurrence in terms of intensity and the media coverage”.

Meanwhile, Sport Bild reported that Bayern supervisory board member Uli Hoeneß personally drove the failed pursuit of Woltemade as Max Eberl took a back seat.