Nick Woltemade's career has stalled over the past year. Although the form curve for the Juventus Turin striker has shown slight improvement recently, an Italian icon has nothing but criticism for the German international.

Marco Borriello described Woltemade in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport as a tall, technically skilled but predictable player. Borriello stated that he was not particularly impressed with the current Bianconeri striking partnership, which consists of Woltemade and former Frankfurt player Randal Kolo Muani, noting that both players dislike playing in the penalty area.

In Serie A, the former Bremen and Stuttgart player, who is on loan from Newcastle United, is still waiting for his first goal contribution. However, Woltemade has scored in all three of his Europa League appearances so far, though two of those goals came from the penalty spot.

Notably, despite the German international contributing two goal involvements in the 2-2 draw against Stade Rennes recently, manager Luciano Spalletti openly criticized him.

Regarding Woltemade and Kolo Muani, the manager stated that while things went well, he believed he could expect more from both players, as their qualities are better than the performance they showed that evening.

Spalletti added that the qualities of these two players are not simply the sum of their individual abilities, but more than that. He emphasized that Woltemade and Kolo Muani need to increase their commitment, noting that both are very technical but need to improve their pace. He acknowledged they played a good match but can deliver more.

Rapid rise, rapid fall

Woltemade experienced a meteoric rise in 2025, which culminated in a 75 million euro transfer to Newcastle United in the Premier League and a temporary regular starting position in the German national team. However, the 24-year-old struggled to find his rhythm at Newcastle.

New national team manager Jürgen Klopp called Woltemade up for the German squad in September, but the player failed to make a strong impression afterward. Whether he will be included again in November remains to be seen.