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CM grafica Woltemade Kolo Muani 16 9Getty Images

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Juventus, Woltemade and Kolo Muani can play together in only two ways

Nick Woltemade, born in 2002, has made 177 appearances and scored 48 goals for his clubs, plus 12 caps and four goals for the national team. Randal Kolo Muani, born in 1998, has 333 club appearances and 97 goals, along with 32 caps and nine goals for the national team. Juventus are starting again with the German and the Frenchman to get back to winning, or at least to secure the minimum target of qualifying for next season's Champions League, an objective they failed to achieve last season. It will be up to the former Newcastle player and the former Tottenham player to make Dusan Vlahovic be forgotten, after he ended up at Besiktas when his contract with Juventus expired.


With Woltemade and Kolo Muani, Juventus have sorted out their attack, which, along with a large number of wide players, also includes Jeff Ekhator and Arek Milik in the centre-forward role.Probably neither Woltemade nor Kolo Muani exactly fits Luciano Spalletti's ideal centre-forward profile, as he would have preferred a more classic penalty-box centre-forward, while both the German and the Frenchman like to roam across the entire front line. Both Woltemade and Kolo Muani, however, will also have to adapt to playing as a focal point in the middle of the penalty area.


  • Spalletti and the 'boa' centre-forward

    Speaking today, Spalletti was clear: "Woltemade has physicality, so heading and finishing inside the area are things that, whether he likes it or not, he will have to learn by heart, because he loves dropping deep to play football." The same goes for Kolo Muani, whom Spalletti, while praising him in plenty of other areas, had goaded after the chance he missed away at Frosinone on the opening day of the league season ("There must be a reason why he hasn't played for two years").


    In Spalletti's 4-2-3-1, one of Woltemade and Kolo Muani will lead Juventus' attack. With Serie A, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia on the schedule, rotation and playing time will not be a problem. There will be plenty of room for both.

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  • Woltemade and Kolo Muani together on the pitch: here is how

    The real question is this: will it be possible to see them play together? The answer is yes, but only under two conditions.


    The first would see one of the two play as the centre-forward and the other as a second striker, with two wide players on either flank. Spalletti could use this solution from the start or during a match, with the German and the Frenchman also able to switch between the two roles, although the German may be more suited to playing a few yards behind his strike partner.


    The second option would be a front two, with Woltemade and Kolo Muani as the attacking outlets alongside two wide players and two central midfielders, in a 4-2-4 that Spalletti could use only during a match, above all if Juventus were chasing the game in the closing stages after falling behind.


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