Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw learn Germany fate after strong Newcastle start
The German duo have impressed at St. James' Park so far but have suffered contrasting outcomes at national team level.
Germany have announced their squad for the October international break, with Nick Woltemade receiving a call-up following his strong start to life in a Newcastle United shirt.
The 6ft 6” centre-forward joined the Magpies from Stuttgart in the summer and already he’s bagged three goals in six appearances for the club across all competitions, including two in three Premier League games. Goals aside, Woltemade’s height, physicality and link-up play have made him a handful for defenders, and he’s already proving popular among the St. James’ Park faithful.
The 23-year-old joins Borussia Dortmund’s Maximilian Beier and Jonathan Burkardt of Eintracht Frankfurt as the striker options for Germany who take on Luxembourg at home and Northern Ireland away in World Cup qualifying. Julian Nagelsmann’s side are second in their group with three points from two games, recovering from a shock 2-0 defeat away in Slovakia by beating Northern Ireland 3-1 in Cologne. Woltemade started both those matches, providing an assist in the latter triumph.
Malick Thiaw snubbed by Germany despite impressive Newcastle form
While Woltemade will be thrilled to get a call-up from Nagelsmann and desperate to add to his four caps, there’s no such joy for Malick Thiaw. Like Woltemade, Thiaw made the move to St. James’ Park this summer, joining from AC Milan following a three-year spell that yielded 85 appearances and a Supercoppa Italiana title. Thiaw is a three-time Germany international, but made all of his national team appearances so far in 2023, starting back-to-back friendlies against Poland and Colombia in June before coming off the bench against Mexico in October.
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The 24-year-old centre-back has also impressed in a Newcastle shirt, starting their last four games across all competitions after some sporadic appearances from the bench, while he’s first in Eddie Howe’s squad for interceptions (2.5) per 90 minutes in Premier League play, and second only to Sven Botman (7.6) for clearances (7.4).
Thiaw was individually serenaded by Newcastle supporters for his performance in Wednesday’s 4-0 away win over Union Saint-Gilloise in the Champions League, with the ex-Schalke man clocking up seven defensive contributions, 100% aerial duel success and a 91% pass accuracy. But none of that has been enough to convince Nagelsmann, who has called up Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Robin Koch (Eintracht Frankfurt), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund) and Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich) as his centre- back options.
Instead, Thiaw will focus on keeping fitness levels high during the international break following this Sunday’s clash at home to Nottingham Forest, with Newcastle returning to duty away at Brighton on 18th October.
Full Germany squad for the October international break
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nübel, Finn Dahmen
Defenders: Waldemar Anton, Ridle Baku, Nathanial Brown, Robin Koch, David Raum, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah
Midfielders/wingers: Karim Adeyemi, Nadiem Amiri, Robert Andrich, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Joshua Kimmich, Jamie Leweling, Felix Nmecha, Angelo Stiller, Florian Wirtz
Strikers: Maximilian Beier, Jonathan Burkardt, Nick Woltemade
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