Woltemade reveals Tonali’s one-word reaction to his Juventus transfer
TURIN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 06: Nick Woltemade of Juventus looks on during the Serie A match between Juventus and AC Milan at Allianz Stadium on September 06, 2026 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Nick Woltemade admits he’s impressed by Luciano Spalletti’s ‘aura’ and reveals Sandro Tonali approved his transfer to Juventus with a one-word comment.
Woltemade joined Juventus on a dry loan deal from Newcastle on deadline day, which means the Serie A giants do not hold an option to make his move permanent.
DAZN asked the Germany international whether he had discussed his move to Juventus with his ex-Newcastle teammate Tonali: “My last game in England was against Tottenham, and two days later I joined Juve,” Woltemade said.
“I told him [Tonali] before the game that I was in talks with Juve and I could move, and he said ‘Class, class.’ We had a really good connection. Last season, there were many guys from England; all the guys not from England sat together. Sandy and me, Malick Thiaw, who played at Milan, we were at one table together for dinner and lunch and we just enjoyed the time. He’s such a good guy.
“He and Malick would always speak about the Italian league, so now I can also speak with them about the Italian league, and that’s really nice. It’s a great character,” continued the German striker.
“Tonali texted me after I signed; he said congrats on this big club you can play for. I’ve been here for just one week so we didn’t have a chance to talk much, but I will text him maybe in a bit. As I said before, he said ‘class’, it has to be a good sign.”
Woltemade made his Juventus debut last week, coming off the bench in a 1-1 draw against Milan at the Allianz Stadium.
“It’s nice to be here. In the first week, there are many new impressions and many new things to learn- a new language too- but I’m really happy to be here,” he said.
“I can’t wait to get more used to it- to the language, to the league and to life here.”
How does it feel to work under Spalletti?
“When I met him the first time, my family was also there. At my age, you say, ‘this guy has aura.’ He has big aura, I’d say,” Woltemade said.
“He looks calm, but on the pitch he’s clear about what he wants to see and how the team should play. He takes care of me; I want to improve my game. That’s why I’m here; I want to improve my game as a player. I really appreciate that he’s working with me like this.”
Woltemade played alongside Randal Kolo Muani in the final minutes of Juventus-Milan last week as the Bianconeri were seeking an equaliser.
“At Stuttgart, we also played with two strikers; now, against Milan, we did the same with Kolo and me,” Woltemade said.
“He played as a No. 9; I moved around a bit, but it can change. Stuttgart was a really good time in my career; I really enjoyed it. I think that’s why I scored many goals and won the cup as well. It was a nice time for me; we could do the same here. Win games and titles. I want to do the same: score goals and help the team win games.”
Woltemade said he doesn’t have a specific number of goals he aims to score this season.
“I don’t have it. I just want to score a lot,” he said.
“It always comes with the flow; I want to get back into that rhythm. I had it at Newcastle too, especially at the beginning, and I want it back.”
Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon has recently said that Woltemade might have the same impact as Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Juventus.
“When I saw it, I was impressed, to be honest,” Woltemade admitted.
“I don’t know him [Buffon] personally, but obviously as a player. When you see these kinds of players talking about you, it’s a nice feeling. He said, in the same sentence, Ibrahimovic and Woltemade, said by Buffon…these are big names. I’m not saying I feel uncomfortable about this, but I really appreciate it. I’m happy people talk about me. Hopefully, he’s right. He’s a legend; I’m proud he put my name in his mouth.
“I’m so tall, there are not many players in my position I can look after. Ibrahimovic was a fantastic player, with really good technique. He’s way more flexible than me for sure, but it’s nice for me to see players who are tall and can play good football. It was the best example. Hopefully I can pick up a bit of that from him.”
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.