Nick Woltemade has already made a real impression in the Premier League after joining Newcastle United.
The German striker scored on his debut against Wolves last week, and he’ll be hoping to keep up his good form as he tries to fill the hole left behind by Alexander Isak.
Woltemade is a big-money addition at St James’ Park, and he’ll be hoping to become a Premier League star.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Woltemade has been discussing some of the best players he’s ever come up against, and he made an interesting claim about one Manchester City player.
Nick Woltemade hails Ruben Dias
Woltemade was asked to name the best defender he’s ever come up against.
The striker said that Dayot Upemacano is his toughest opponent ever, but he did reserve some special praise for Ruben Dias.
Dias has been criticised at times recently, but he remains a top player.
“Yeah, I played Ruben Dias, I would honestly say Upamecano, but Ruben Dias is of course a really good player,” Woltemade said.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time this week that Woltemade has praised Dias, as he said similar on the Sky Sports Football Podcast.
“Upamecano. I know he’s really good, yeah, yeah. From Bayern, I played Ruben Dias, yeah, I played Ruben Dias, of course, he was also a really good player. But Upamecano, he’s really fast and it’s hard to play against him,” Woltemade said.
Nick Woltemade stats vs Ruben Dias
Woltemade says Dias gave him a tough time when they met, and the stats back that up.
Indeed, these two met on the international stage over the summer, and Dias managed to keep the colossal striker under wraps.
| Nick Woltemade stats vs Ruben Dias | |
| Shots | 2 |
| Shots on target | 1 |
| Touches | 19 |
| Aerial duels won | 0 |
Woltemade seriously struggled against Dias over the summer, and Pep Guardiola will be hoping it’s a similar story when Manchester City and Newcastle meet later this season.
Of course, as Woltemade adapts more and more to the Premier League he will continue to improve, and he may become a trickier test for the likes of Dias and the other star defenders in the Premier League.
