Serie A: Nick Woltemade moves to Juventus Turin

At least Nick Woltemade doesn’t have to get used to new colors. Black and white vertical stripes adorn not only the jersey of Newcastle United, but also that of Italy’s record champions Juventus Turin; they once adopted the design from the English club Notts County at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the people of Turin have been… Bianconeri Well known, you can read the whole story in detail in the Juventus Museum in the stadium. Maybe the new Juventus striker will have the opportunity to go on such a museum tour in the coming weeks. Then, when calm finally returns after the end of the transfer deadline, at the end of which the 1.98 meter tall German once again dominates the international headlines.

On August 30, 2025, after weeks of debate, Nick Woltemade moved from VfB Stuttgart to Newcastle United for a very high sum north of the 70 million mark. And now, on September 1, 2026, Woltemade has moved again: this time on loan, to Italy to Juventus Turin. And while the jersey color remains largely the same, the circumstances of the 24-year-old’s career change in remarkable ways. Again.

Last year, the Woltemade transfer told the story of a rise. Only a year at VfB Stuttgart and an excellent European Championship with the German U21 were enough to make the big leap. In 2024, Werder Bremen let the striker move to league rivals VfB for free. Twelve months later, several club bosses between Munich, Tegernsee, Stuttgart and Great Britain publicly argued over the amount of the tens of millions of transfer fees, and Lothar Matthäus also argued. In the end, Woltemade decided on Newcastle United, which was financed by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund PIF, and started there with considerable creative enthusiasm.

Until a kink followed: Just as Newcastle lost its rhythm over the course of the season, Woltemade also lost it. At some point in such dramatic fashion that in February one of the many loud British pundits declared him the “worst transfer in Premier League history”.

It was an interim conclusion that Woltemade couldn’t get rid of until the end of the season. The factual argument that he had to switch to positions in Newcastle that were more than unfamiliar to him didn’t help either. And just as the U21 summer of 2025 was brilliant, the World Cup summer of 2026 was a debacle with the senior national team: Woltemade only played a few minutes, missed a penalty in the round of 16 defeat against Paraguay and was subsequently kicked in the German tabloid media when he described the World Cup as “awesome learning” in a sponsor conversation with Thomas Müller.

His new club has a great past and the highest demands, but a future with many question marks

There was no mention of any of this in the Italian media on Tuesday morning. “The World of Woltemessi,” was the headline Gazzetta dello Sport Dear. Woltemade’s nickname from last year was part of the usual welcoming laurels that are often handed out to prominent Serie A signings in Italy. But Juventus Turin can also face a sharp headwind from the Alps, which Woltemade’s predecessors, among others, can report. The striker Dusan Vlahovic, for example, was once signed for almost 80 million euros and now plays for Besiktas Istanbul. Or the Canadian Jonathan David, whose move to Atlético Madrid paved the way for Woltemade. A few days ago, in the 2-0 win against Parma, David was booed for a spectacular miss by a sometimes relentless crowd. Fans still see Juventus as a power in European football, even if the club is only playing in the Europa League this year.

In Turin, Woltemade is now playing for a club with a great past and the highest demands, but a future full of question marks. Coach Luciano Spalletti, in office since last autumn, has not yet managed to raise his team to a consistently high level. The transfer summer was marked by some imponderables; a clear plan was not always apparent, although the financial possibilities remain great thanks to the wealthy owner family Agnelli and the Stellantis group in the background.

Now, among other things, two offensive players who have followed not at all dissimilar career paths will be part of the rescue and development program. A potential strike partner for Woltemade will be Randal Kolo Muani, once a sensation at Eintracht Frankfurt, sold for a lot of money after just one year in the Bundesliga, then caught in a spiral of loan deals and poor performances. At that time, Kolo Muani’s dream was not to play in the Europa League with Juventus, but rather to win the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain. Until a few weeks ago, Woltemade’s plan was to take on the challenge in Newcastle under the new German coach Matthias Jaissle, as can be heard from those close to the player. On Tuesday, however, a jet took him to northern Italy, to the new world of Woltemessi. To the next chapter of a career that has so far been marked by a steep climb and a sobering experience in England.