The threat posed to England U21s by ''two metre Messi-Musiala''

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·18 June 2025

The threat posed to England U21s by ''two metre Messi-Musiala''

England's Under-21s take on Germany on Wednesday with a place in the quarter-finals of the Under-21 European Championships up for grabs - and nullifying the threat posed by Stuttgart forward Nick Woltemade will no doubt be a priority.

The Young Lions will reach the quarter-finals if they avoid defeat by Germany, or if Slovenia do not beat the Czech Republic, but they will have to contend with Woltemade, the current leader of the U21 Euro's Golden Boot race.

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Called a "two metre Messi-Musiala" by club captain Atakan Karazor earlier this year, given his height and technical ability, Woltemade banged home 17 goals across all competitions for Stuttgart last term and already has four to his name at the prestigious summer youth tournament in Slovakia.

Here are five stats relating to Woltemade's impact in the Bundesliga last season - and a few tips that could help Lee Carsley and his current Under-21 European champions handle the striker tonight.

He's box office: All 12 of Woltemade's goals in the German top flight were scored inside the penalty area, with three of them snaffled inside the six-yard box. Tellingly, the forward also ranked in the 'Top 20' players in the division, in terms of how close to goal he took on his shots (12.4 yards on average).
He's accurate: Across the entire Bundesliga last term, only 11 players had a shots-on-target of 50% or higher, and Woltemade was one of them - the Stuttgart man hitting the target with exactly half of his 46 shots in 2024/25.
He can supply team-mates: Last season, Woltemade completed 37 key passes (all of them short passes, by the way) to rank him well inside the German top tier's 'Top 50' players in this stat category. He actually played more key passes than England and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane (35).
He is dispossessed frequently: Only five players in the Bundesliga were dispossessed on more occasions last season than Woltemade (50 times). This probably also speaks to an element of risk in his game, but Carsley's Young Lions will hope for plenty of easy turnovers tonight.
His aerial threat is deceptive: At 6ft 6in tall, Woltemade is undoubtedly an imposing figure with a considerable physical threat...but his numbers suggest he is at his most dangerous when the ball is on the deck. Last season, he scored just one headed goals in the Bundesliga - the vast majority of his strikes coming courtesy of his potent right foot (nine goals).