Hansi Flick has no place in his 24-man squad for Mats Hummels and Mario Götze. Germany will play two games this month in Group C of the Nations League against Hungary and England. Armel Bella-Kochap has been selected. The twenty-year-old center defender of Southampton makes his debut in the selection.
For ex-PSV player Götze, the grapes are sour. The midfielder returned to Germany this summer to join Eintracht Frankfurt. Despite the fact that the creative has conquered a permanent base in the team of trainer Oliver Glasner, the thirty-year-old Götze has not been able to impress Flick enough. Nevertheless, the national coach keeps the door open for both Götze and Hummels. “They still have every chance to jump on the World Cup train. The door is still open for everyone.”
Despite Flick’s words of hope, participation in the World Cup seems far away for the pair. “This is the starting signal for the World Cup, we are absolutely in World Cup mode,” said the ex-Bayern Munich coach. Experienced names can be found in the German selection. Bayern, for example, is the main supplier of the selection with seven players. Christian Ginter and Robin Gosens return to the selection, while Benjamin Henrichs, Lukas Klostermann, Jonathan Tah, Anton Stach and Karim Adeyemi did not survive the selection from the previous selection in June for various reasons.
The national coach is still looking for a player ‘for the special moments’. With the entry of Bella-Katchap, it seems that little will change in the selection towards the World Cup. The central defender had his breakthrough at VfL Bochum and left this summer for ten million euros to Southampton, where he is a basic player this season. Flick said he selected Bella-Kochap for his “very, very good development.” The four-time world champion is placed in Group E at the World Cup with Japan, Costa Rica and Spain.
Full squad Germany:
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Defense: Armel Bella-Kotchap (Southampton), Matthias Ginter (SC Freiburg), Robin Gosens (Inter Milan), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham United), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule ( both Borussia Dortmund)
midfield: Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund)
Attack: Serge Gnabry, Thomas Müller, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sané (all Bayern Munich), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Lukas Nmecha (VfL Wolfsburg)