Woltemade rose for a free header at the back post as Juventus chased Sassuolo on Sunday, and put it wide.
Minutes later Sassuolo scored again through Kieron Bowie, and Vasilije Adzic finished it off in the 94th minute for a 3-2 win that left Luciano Spalletti’s side without a point from the trip.
That header, in a match Juventus twice pulled level in the closing 10 minutes, became the moment the Italian press pinned to Woltemade’s early loan spell. Tuttosport rated him 5.5 and wrote that his entry disrupted Sassuolo’s defensive plans, but that the heading error was “un peso insopportabile”, an unbearable weight, on the final judgment.
CalcioMercato, in the Goal.com ratings, went to a straight 5 and pointed to the same moment.
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“He has the big chance in the 84th minute, when he rises for a header but puts it wide,” wrote Gianluca Minchiotti.
That was the 24-year-old German’s second Juventus appearance. He joined on loan from Newcastle United on 1 September, with the club confirming an agreement that runs until 30 June 2027 and describing the deal as reinforcement for “Luciano Spalletti’s attacking ranks”.
Spalletti’s Friesian horse
After Woltemade’s debut against AC Milan on 6 September, Spalletti reached for a comparison from his own stables.
“I have a Friesian [horse], he seems very similar to me. He is statuesque, he inspires a bit of fear from a physical point of view and then he is very sweet and lets himself be stroked and ridden,” Spalletti said.
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Woltemade came on in the 76th minute at the Allianz Stadium with Juventus a goal down, had a shot go off target, and Federico Gatti equalised deep in stoppage time for a 1-1 draw.
Football Italia noted his introduction in the closing minutes made Juventus slightly more dangerous, even if he barely touched the ball: eight touches, two lost, two fouls won.
Woltemade returned the compliment to his coach, telling reporters Spalletti has “a huge aura” and had already begun working closely with him.
Zero goals from Juventus’s summer strikers
The problem is not Woltemade alone.
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He and fellow summer signing Randal Kolo Muani had gone four Serie A matches between them without scoring by the end of the Sassuolo game, and the Italian sports press has framed the pair as unfinished business, bundling them together in post-match coverage as the marquee arrivals whose returns have not yet come.
Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle was able to send Woltemade to Italy after the club signed Matias Fernandez-Pardo from Lille in a reported £51m deal on transfer deadline day, opening the position at St James’ Park.
Juventus’s next Serie A fixture is at home to Atalanta on Sunday, 20 September.
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