Hansi Flick Names One New Face and Three Returnees for the Nationalmannschaft

German Bundestrainer Hansi Flick has named his 24-man squad to face Hungary and England in the forthcoming international fixtures. Southampton defender Armel Bella Kotchap is the surprise inclusion with Mats Hummels missing out.

Germany face Hungary in Leipzig on September 23 in Leipzig before facing historic rivals England three days later at Wembley for their Nations League Group 3 clash. The squad gives an interesting insight into Flick’s thinking ahead of December’s World Cup in Qatar with the players not selected a talking point just as much of those who were.

The one new face in the squad is 20-year-old centre back Armel Bella Kotchap, who moved from Bochum to the Premier League in the summer and has impressed already under Ralph Hasenhüttl at Southampton. He has nine caps at U-21 level, but this is is first call-up to the senior squad.

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After a particularly impressive display against Manchester City last night in the Champions League and after forming an instant relationship with Nico Schlotterbeck, it had been believed that veteran Mats Hummels might get a call-up, but his omission points to the fact that the summer’s finals tournament might be a step beyond him despite his performance levels at Dortmund.

Inter’s Robin Gosens is back in the squad which will give him a chance to stake a claim for the left-wing back slot despite not enjoying the best of starts with the Nerrazurri since his move from Atlanta. Matthias Ginter is in the squad and Barcelona keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen returns after an agreement that he would sit out the previous four internationals.

Injuries to Florian Neuhaus, Florian Wirtz and Karim Adeyemi mean they miss out this time around but must still be considered genuine contenders for a World Cup spot (Wirtz is highly unlikely to be ready however).

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Freiburg captain Christian Günter misses out as does Leeds United Robin Koch, who had been mentioned as an outside bet, Flick instead went for fellow-Premier League defender Bella Kotchap.

Lukas Nmecha has enjoyed a good personal start to the new season, even if his Wolfsburg side haven’t and he is chosen ahead of outside bet and six-goal Bundesliga top scorer Niklas Füllkrug.

Full Squad:

Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp

Defenders: Armel Bella Kotchap, Matthias Ginter, Robin Gosens, Thilo Kehrer, David Raum, Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Süle

Midfielders: Julian Brandt, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Ilkay Gundogan, Kai Havertz, Jonas Hofmann, Joshua Kimmich, Thomas Müller

Forwards: Jamal Musiala, Lukas Nmecha, Marco Reus, Leroy Sané, Timo Werner

About Mathew Burt 1058 Articles
Former writer at Goal.com and JustFootball, I've been doing my thing for Bundesliga Fanatic since 2015. A long-suffering Werder Bremen fan and disciple of the Germanic holy trinity...Bier. Wurst und Fußball