Fabio Capello admits he has been left baffled by the way teams have used 6ft 6in Nick Woltemade in the last 12 months
Nick Woltemade celebrates scoring for Juventus against Celta Vigo
Nick Woltemade scored for Juventus against Celta Vigo
Former England manager Fabio Capello has offered his view on how to get the best out of Newcastle United's £69million record signing Nick Woltemade.
The Germany international left Newcastle to join the Serie A side on loan on deadline day and will be in Turin until the end of the 2026/27 season, with no recall clause on his current arrangement with Juventus. Woltemade was told he would not fit in with Newcastle's system this season under Matthias Jaissle and had he opted to stay he would have been down the pecking order.
Newcastle chiefs then made it clear that without Woltemade's exit, Matias Fernandez-Pardo's £51million move from Lille would not have been possible. As Woltemade gets to grips with Serie A, he has netted twice in the Europa League and is yet to get off the mark in the Italian top-flight.
Speaking to Tuttomercatoweb this week the former Juventus, AC Milan and Three Lions chief Capello has pitched in with his view on why Woltemade has struggled. Having been used in a deep lying role last season under Eddie Howe, despite a good start to his Toon career with nine goals in the first half of the last campaign, Woltemade struggled from the turn of the year.
Capello, renowned for working with big physical strikers like Gabriel Batistuta and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, said of Woltemade: "I saw a striker who can fit at Juventus, but he needs a player around who moves.
"He can hold the ball, he can be a point of reference. I don’t understand why they’ve never crossed it in for him, with someone so big up front. The ball doesn’t just have to head it, it can also hit him."
Juventus star Kolo Muani has also offered the key to getting the best out of Woltemade. It's something that Newcastle failed to manage last season as they moved him around from a number 9 to a 10 and back.
But Muani said last night: "The coach said at half-time that we have a lot of the ball and needed to get it into the area with crosses, as there were bodies in the box, so when Woltemade came on, there were more occasions and it was much better than the first half, but we can still do better.
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 19: Fabio Capello of Italy during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - MARCH 19: Fabio Capello of Italy during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Qian Jun/MB Media/Getty Images)
"When Nick comes inside, he is big, can hold up the ball and worry the defenders, so it gives me more freedom to move around, get the ball, it is much better for me."
Having scored his first from open play in the 2-1 win over Celta Vigo in the Europa League in midweek, Woltemade and his team-mates now face Lazio in Turin tonight. The game is already regarded as a six-pointer with Juve in seventh spot and second placed Lazio threatening to establish a an eight point cushion over the Old Lady of Italian football.
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