In the draw against AC Milan, Nick Woltemade made his debut for Juventus Turin. After the match, Luciano Spalletti expressed his full confidence in the German’s strike partner.
In the 85th minute, Nick Woltemade nearly scored the equalizer for Juventus. The player on loan from Newcastle United turned and fired a left-footed shot, but the ball sailed just over the crossbar. Woltemade had come on as a substitute for Douglas Luiz only about ten minutes earlier to breathe new life into the offense.
Unlike the German, who would later win the free kick that led to Federico Gatti’s decisive 1-1 equalizer against Milan, Randal Kolo Muani had failed to do so throughout the entire match. Luciano Spalletti nevertheless stands behind Woltemade’s positional rival—and in this context also commented on the German national team player.
Spalletti is sticking with Kolo Muani “until the end of the season”
“I’m on the Kolo Muani train, and that’s where I’m staying. We’ll see where this train has taken us in the end,” Turin’s head coach explained after Sunday night’s draw. Spalletti had already expressed his confidence in the former Frankfurt player earlier, when he kept him on the field for the full 90 minutes in the third game of the season. However, his record of zero points does not look promising.
“I’m jumping on this train by playing him as a striker, and I’ll stick with that until the end of the season,” affirmed Spalletti, whose team dropped points for the first time after victories in Frosinone (1–0) and against Parma (2–0). But what does this commitment to Kolo Muani mean for Woltemade?
Woltemade in a two-man attack with Kolo Muani?
When asked about this on Sunday evening, Spalletti assured that he could envision a French-German two-man attack—just as in the closing stages against Milan. However, Woltemade would first have to reach the necessary fitness level, having barely seen any playing time for Newcastle previously.
Playing alongside Kolo Muani, who is expected to drop deep frequently, Woltemade could then capitalize on his physicality. Although the 24-year-old had identified “technical ability and game intelligence” as his greatest strengths just a few days earlier at his introduction, Spalletti made it clear: “For Woltemade, heading and finishing are skills he must master—whether he likes it or not.” Whether as a substitute or in a two-man strike partnership with Kolo Muani.