For the first time since his debut, Nick Woltemade has been left out of the DFB squad. His form on the pitch is not the main problem. A poor decision he made in the summer is now causing him trouble.
When the DFB announced their official squad for the upcoming Nations League internationals against Serbia (13 November) and the Netherlands (16 November) on Thursday lunchtime, Niclas Füllkrug had reason to be delighted. The Werder Bremen striker, written off after his move to West Ham United in summer 2024 and the prolonged goal drought that followed, has shown how quickly fortunes can change with the national team.
Less than six months ago, Füllkrug was a long way from a DFB recall and consequently missed the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico. Now he is the man of the moment and one of Germany's form players. Since returning to Bremen, the 33-year-old has scored twelve goals in ten appearances across all competitions. He has scored at least once in each of his last eight games, netting twice against Dortmund, Paderborn and Mainz.
It had therefore been "a pleasure", national team coach Jürgen Klopp said at the press conference, "to make the decision" and tell the veteran that he could play for the national team again after a long, difficult spell. Füllkrug has "an incredible influence on Bremen's play, not just through his goals", Klopp stressed. His verdict: "Sometimes form outweighs everything else."
Getty ImagesHow are things going for Nick Woltemade at Juventus?
By "everything else", Klopp may have been referring, among others, to Nick Woltemade. The Juventus striker is still falling short of the high expectations surrounding him at Italy's record champions. In that respect, he is the opposite of the in-form Füllkrug.
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The statistics, though, paint a less bleak picture for the 24-year-old than his first omission since his DFB debut in June 2025 might suggest. Since joining Juventus, Woltemade has played more or less regularly and has shown his qualities on several occasions, particularly in the Europa League. While he has neither scored nor directly contributed to a goal in eight Serie A appearances, he has registered an impressive three goals (two penalties) and three assists in four games in Europe.
On Thursday evening, he strengthened his case again, playing well in a 2-1 away win in Alkmaar and setting up Randal Kolo Muani's goal to make it 2-0. Woltemade has therefore been directly involved in at least one goal in every European game he has played for the Bianconeri.
Woltemade's problem, and probably part of the reason the DFB have not called him up, is not a lack of impact in a Juventus shirt. His numbers show otherwise. The bigger issue is the decision the former Bundesliga striker made last summer: joining the Turin club in the first place.
Getty ImagesWhy did Nick Woltemade move to Juventus?
At his parent club Newcastle United, who reportedly paid VfB Stuttgart 75 million euros in 2025, establishing himself and getting regular playing time would not have been easy. Under Eddie Howe, who stepped down in the summer, Woltemade was often no more than a substitute. He got the final few minutes here and there and rarely made an impact.
Howe, however, is gone. Former RB Leipzig youth coach Matthias Jaissle took the reins at the Magpies and immediately promised Woltemade a fresh start, even if he might initially have to wait his turn because of Jaissle's preferred high-pressing style of play. Woltemade evidently did not want to risk playing second fiddle for another season and fled to Italy.
Getty ImagesCan Nick Woltemade make it back into the DFB squad?
According to Klopp, it was "fundamentally a very clever move": after an extremely bleak spell at Newcastle, Juventus could offer the 24-year-old a completely new environment. A "different league, better weather" and, in Luciano Spalletti, a coach whose approach might be better suited to Woltemade could help him rediscover his old form. Italy's once-dominant champions, though, have long ceased to offer a supportive environment for players at a career crossroads and are becoming increasingly irrelevant on the pitch. That is "of course not down to Nick. Not in the slightest", Klopp stressed.
Juventus have had so many problems of their own for years that it is almost impossible for a player to deliver top performances week after week and make a case for a national-team place. A haphazardly assembled squad and serious financial problems have contributed to a steady decline on the pitch for years. The Turin club recently announced a loss of 66 million euros for the 2025/26 financial year. Other clubs, such as Inter, Milan and Napoli, have long been competing among themselves for the Serie A title, while Juventus have failed to qualify for the Champions League twice in the last four years.
Nor has the Italian press held back, as Woltemade has experienced on several occasions. Major newspapers such as Gazzetta dello Sport and Tuttosport regularly tear apart the German's performances. At times, their assessments amount to a witch-hunt. Take the 2-0 defeat to Genoa a week and a half ago: Woltemade came on for Federico Gatti at half-time with the score already 2-0, and the press then effectively singled him out as the main culprit for the defeat. That came despite Woltemade recently being voted Juventus player of the month.
At least Klopp appears to be aware of the particular circumstances. "To be honest, Nick is going through a rather good spell at Juve right now. A lot is coming back; he hasn't had an easy time since the move," the national team coach explained. Woltemade was "on the right track. He's just lacking a little bit of real goal threat." Füllkrug, meanwhile, is currently demonstrating precisely that in impressive fashion, which is why Klopp concluded: "It was a relatively easy decision." Füllkrug in. Woltemade out.