The likes of Bayern Munich chiefs Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinze Rummenigge have both slammed Newcastle for paying over €90m to ferry Woltemade away from VfB Stuttgart this summer.
But Woltemade has made a superb start to life in England and with Newcastle - and teammate Pope said on the Fozcast podcast: “It’s great to have Nick Woltemade, obviously he’s hit the ground running for us.
"Everyone wants to give him the ball, and he’s shown in training and in games what a player he is – it’s a joy to have him.
"It’s madness (the criticism).
"Obviously, the standard line is I don’t talk about players from another team. Do we not do that anymore? Now he’s banging goals every few days, it looks great for Nick. He’ll take anything like that in his stride. He’s very mellow and settled into the group great.”