Woltemade, 24, left VfB Stuttgart for Newcastle United last summer in a deal worth around £69 million — a figure Bayern Munich refused to match. The striker had scored 12 goals in 28 league appearances for Stuttgart the previous season and was one of the most coveted forwards in German football.
In a new interview with Der Spiegel, Hoeness said Bayern had been on the verge of completing the transfer at a significantly lower figure before Matthäus intervened.
"I'll tell you one thing — we would have signed him for €50 million, and I am sure we could have pulled it off," Hoeness said.
"But then Matthäus goes and says in the newspaper that the player is definitely worth between €60 and €80 million."
The consequence, as Hoeness sees it, was that Stuttgart could no longer accept Bayern's offer without embarrassing themselves publicly.
"They could no longer sell him for €55 million, because they would have come under such pressure that they would have been too stupid to carry out what Matthäus, as a so-called expert, was trumpeting to the world."
Matthäus, 64, is a permanent fixture in the German football media landscape and has been a vocal commentator on the Bundesliga transfer market for decades. His relationship with Bayern's former honorary president has never been entirely smooth, and Hoeness made no attempt to disguise his feelings.
"He doesn't have to exploit his position to keep hurting FC Bayern," he said.
Matthäus has previously defended his comments, arguing that a player's value is determined by what clubs actually pay — and that Newcastle's willingness to spend £69 million proved his assessment was correct.
Woltemade has shown flashes of his quality at Newcastle this season but struggled for consistent playing time under Eddie Howe, leading to speculation about his future at St. James' Park. Reports have suggested he could be available for transfer this summer — a development that may reignite Bayern's interest, now that the pricing argument has long been settled.
Hoeness believes the original deal should never have escaped them.