Jurgen Klopp’s first Germany squad is in, and boy is it a big one.
The new national team coach has named 44 players for this September-October run of fixtures, although that number is down from the rumoured 57.
The number makes sense when you consider that Germany will play a slightly ridiculous four games in 10 days in the Nations League.
As such, two separate 22-man squads will be used, and it was the names left out that made more headlines than those included.
Only 15 remain from Germany’s ill-fated 2026 World Cup campaign, and dropping out is arguably the best player from the summer, Deniz Undav.
Klopp explains Undav decision
Klopp explained: “I did speak with Deniz Undav. Deniz has had a few issues lately and hasn’t really found his footing this season yet.
“I wanted to select four strikers for the squad, and for the moment I chose other players instead.
“The same goes for [Stuttgart teammate] Jamie Leweling. He was part of the World Cup squad, but because of injury things haven’t really clicked for him recently.
“He understood that. It’s understandable. That’s basically how the conversations went. I didn’t tell anyone: ‘You’re not in the squad because I don’t like your face.’ That would be ridiculous.
“The discussions were about the actual football reasons that matter, and the players were told those reasons—provided they wanted to hear them. It’s as simple as that.
“That’s why, from my perspective, all of those conversations went absolutely fine.”
The goalkeeper situation also prompted interest with Manuel Neuer retiring after the World Cup.
The No.1 spot is up for grabs, and Klopp has seemingly gone for Ajax’s Marc Andre ter Stegen.
He’s selected five goalkeepers overall, and that doesn’t include his former Liverpool shot-stopper Loris Karius who is arguably in the best form of the lot with Schalke.
He also left out Hoffenheim’s Oliver Baumann who went into the World Cup build-up as No.1 before Neuer’s controversial recall.
Klopp explains his goalkeeping call
Klopp explained: “With Oliver Baumann, it’s quite simple. I chose Marc-André ter Stegen for the experienced goalkeeper role, and after that I wanted to bring in the next generation. That’s the decision I made.
“I can imagine it wasn’t a great summer for Oliver, although I didn’t ask him directly. But I think Marc-André ter Stegen has had several tournaments in his career where he sat there wondering: ‘Shouldn’t I be the one playing? Shouldn’t I be involved?’ And honestly, there are worse things in life.
“Oliver is a fantastic goalkeeper, he’s had a fantastic career so far, and he can probably keep playing for another five, six, seven years if he wants to.”
He added: “For now, this is the decision, and naturally the players have to accept it. And they all did, as much as can reasonably be expected.
“Whenever the players wanted feedback, they received it. They were told why the decision was made, what was missing, what they needed to improve, and so on.
“Since I’m in regular contact with their club coaches, I wouldn’t tell a player, ‘You’re lacking this and this,’ only for him to reply, ‘Well, my coach wants me to do something completely different.’
“That’s why I coordinate with the club managers. If we’re aligned, then the player gets that feedback directly. Several players even thanked me for the feedback. And in some cases, the reasons are simply obvious.
“Take Leroy [Sane], for example. He hasn’t really found his rhythm yet. I don’t mean just this season—because this season is still young—but overall he hasn’t fully settled into things.
“I’ll definitely speak with him at some point, although I haven’t done so yet. I also haven’t spoken with Leon Goretzka yet, because Leon is injured. Of course I could talk to him, but I’ve already made over 50 or 60 phone calls, and those conversations need to have some substance.
“I wasn’t really in the mood for calls that amount to: ‘Hi, it’s me. How are you?’ If there’s something meaningful to discuss, then we’ll talk.”
Squad 1 for the Netherlands and Greece:
Goalkeepers: Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg), Alexander Nübel (Besiktas), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Ajax Amsterdam)
Defense: Hennes Behrens (FC Augsburg), Yann Aurel Bisseck (Inter Milan), Nathaniel Brown (Bayern Munich), Max Rosenfelder (SC Freiburg), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (Bayern Munich), Philipp Treu (SC Freiburg), Josha Vagnoman (VfB Stuttgart)
Midfield: Nadiem Amiri (FSV Mainz 05), Bambasé Conté (TSG Hoffenheim), Yannik Engelhardt (SC Freiburg), Chris Führich (VfB Stuttgart), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Lennart Karl (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (Borussia Dortmund), Kevin Schade (FC Brentford), Anton Stach (Leeds United)
Attack: Younes Ebnoutalib (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kai Havertz (Arsenal FC)
Squad 2 for Serbia and Greece:
Goalkeepers: Noah Atubolu (Eintracht Frankfurt), Finn Dahmen (FC Augsburg), Jonas Urbig (Bayern Munich)
Defense: Waldemar Anton (Borussia Dortmund), Ridle Baku (RB Leipzig), Finn Jeltsch (VfB Stuttgart), Maximilian Mittelstädt (VfB Stuttgart), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle United)
Midfield: Karim Adeyemi (FC Barcelona), Mika Baur (Celtic Glasgow), Tom Bischof (Bayern Munich), Said El Mala (1. FC Köln), Brajan Gruda (RB Leipzig), Vitaly Janelt (FC Brentford), Felix Keidel (SV Elversberg), Aleksander Pavlovic (Bayern Munich), Derry Scherhant (SC Freiburg), Florian Wirtz (FC Liverpool)
Attack: Jonathan Burkardt (Eintracht Frankfurt), Nick Woltemade (Juventus Turin)
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