Newcastle United forward Nick Woltemade has been backed to win the World Cup Golden Boot by his Magpies and Germany team-mate Malick Thiaw.
Woltemade is in contention to lead the line for Germany in the competition and will hope to get the nod ahead of Stuttgart's Deniz Undav and Arsenal's Kai Havertz.
The 24-year-old joined Newcastle for a club record £69million fee from Stuttgart last summer and bagged 11 goals in his opening season in English football.
Only two of those came in 2026, though, with the goals drying up as Eddie Howe moved Woltemade back into a midfield role. However, Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann has insisted he will be playing further up the field for his country.
As such, Thiaw, who also joined Newcastle last summer from AC Milan, is confident his team-mate will be in the conversation for the tournament's top scorer, having won the Golden Boot in last summer's European under-21 Championships.
"Yes, 100 per cent," Thiaw replied when asked if Woltemade can win the Golden Boot. "Each striker who plays for a big country like Germany, or one of the others, can do something [special] and he has the qualities to do it."
"We try to perform as a team, first of all. But, bring his qualities into the team as well and into the games, then of course he can help Germany a lot in this World Cup."
Thiaw will also look to make his mark on the competition after earning a call-up on the back of a mammoth first season on Tyneside. No Newcastle player played more minutes than Thiaw across the course of the campaign, with the 24-year-old making 54 appearances in all competitions.
Competition for places in the centre of Germany's defence is fierce, though, with Real Madrid star Antonio Rudiger and Bayern Munich's Jonathan Tah set to be the first choice pairing, while Borussia Dortmund duo Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton are also in the squad. Nonetheless, Thiaw is ready to make his mark when called upon this summer.
"Yes, I always try to perform what the coach asks of me, whether it's in training and in the games. I will be available for him," Thiaw added. "We have a good team. But you know how the World Cup is, it's really big and the tournament is long also. But, yeah [confident], we have a good team."
Die Mannschaft open their World Cup campaign on Sunday as they take on World Cup debutants Curacao in their opening game of Group E at the NRG Stadium in Houston.
With Ivory Coast and Ecuador also in their group, Germany's fixtures are only going to get more difficult and Thiaw admits it is imperative they get off to a strong start to their campaign when they take on Dick Advocaat's side.
"The first game is so, so important, especially in the World Cup," Thiaw concluded. "There is a lot of pressure in the first game. If you win this game, you have a good outlook for the next games. It can give you confidence and it also reduces the pressure a little bit. So this first game is maybe the most important one."
