Nick Woltemade has spoken for the first time as a Juventus player — and the opening statement of his black-and-white adventure is warm, grounded, and shot through with the quiet confidence of a 24-year-old who knows precisely where he fits in the game and why this particular club, at this particular moment, is the right destination.
“The Biggest Italian Club — I Am Very Happy and Proud”
Woltemade opened without diplomatic hedging. “I am absolutely delighted to be here. Juventus is a great club and I am enthusiastic about this new adventure. For me it is another country — but I am happy to be playing for a great club like this. For me, Juventus is the biggest club in Italy, so I am very happy and proud of myself. I feel pride for my family too, for my agents, for everyone at Juventus who made this transfer possible. I am so happy to be here and I cannot wait to start.”
“I Am an Intelligent Footballer — I Can Score, Assist, and Find the Right Position”
On his technical qualities, Woltemade was precise and illuminating. “I think I am an intelligent footballer. I can score, I can provide assists, I can play the final pass for my teammates. I think I am good at finding the right position on the pitch — and I think, overall, as you will see, this is my way of playing. I think it is not often that you see a tall player who plays like me. I am very happy to be in a team like Juventus, which controls the ball a great deal and does so with the right timing. I think it is in situations like these that I can express myself at my best — so I am very happy.”
The last point is significant and worth noting. Woltemade has identified possession-based, technically precise football — Spalletti’s football — as the environment in which he believes he performs at his best. It is a self-awareness that goes beyond the standard new-signing interview formula.
“I Think I’ve Taken Something from Ibrahimović — and I Like Havertz Too”
The answer that generated the most attention concerned his footballing models — and it was delivered with the honest qualification of a player who has always struggled to find precise comparisons for his own unusual profile. “My models? It is difficult because I am very tall and not many footballers are as tall as me. But I think I have taken something from everyone — for example from Zlatan Ibrahimović. I always loved watching him because he is also very tall and has good technique. I also like Kai Havertz — who is a friend of mine. I always try to take something from everyone, to absorb each of their characteristics and then try to make them my own. But it has never been easy to have a single model because I don’t think there are many footballers similar to me, given my height and my way of playing.”
The Havertz detail — a friend, not merely an admiration — adds a personal dimension. Two tall, technically sophisticated, versatile forwards of similar generation who know each other well. The Ibrahimović reference, for its part, validates Karl-Heinz Riedle’s comparison from earlier in the day, with the added authority of it coming from the player himself.
