Hansi Flick Calls Up Wolf, Berisha, Schade, Nmecha and Vagnoman

German national team trainer Hansi Flick has called five new faces into his squad for the forthcoming friendly internationals against Peru and Belgium later this month. Borussia Dortmund’s Marius Wolf and FC Augsburg striker Mergim Berisha earn their first call-ups, as do both Kevin Schade of Brentford and VfB Sttuttgart’s Joshua Vagnoman. Felix Nmecha has emulated his older brother by also getting a call-up to the full international side for the first time.

Following on from the debacle of the Qatar World Cup, where the German side failed to make it out of the group stage for the second successive World Cup tournament, there was much speculation as to how much the Bundestrainer would shake things up with his first post-World Cup squad.

“With regard to the home EM 2024, it is important to us that we can present a good squad. It is important that we look for alternatives, promote them and give them the necessary time,” Flick explained after revealing his squad. “We deliberately avoided using established players because we believe that we have to give the new players the space to show themselves not only in training but also in the games.”

Dortmund’s Marius Wolf has been one of their stand-out performers this season fulfilling a number of roles for the Schwarzgelben in their push for the Bundesliga title. He has gone from a prospective candidate to be sold to an indispensable player for BVB coach Edin Terzic.

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FC Augbsurg’s Mergim Berisha has been an instant hit with the Fuggerstädter since joining from Fenerbahce and has scored eight goals this season including goals in both clashes with Bayern Munich. “I really liked Mergim because of the way he’s played , how he asserts himself and how he finishes” Flick explained. “The same applies to Berisha as to the other newcomers: We hope that he can show us what he shows in Augsburg and confidently convey the things that he does well.”

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The inclusion of youngsters Kevin Schade, Joshua Vagnoman and Felix Nmecha shows that Flick is looking to build for the future, although veteran Emre Can has also earned a recall following his top form for Dortmund. Florian Wirtz is also back in the squad after missing the World Cup and now recovered from his cruciate knee injury. Timo Werner also returns.

There are however some big names who have missed out (and not because they are injured like Julian Brandt). Antonio Rüdiger (Real Madrid), Niklas Süle (Borussia Dortmund), Lukas Klostermann (RB Leipzig), Jonas Hofmann (Borussia Mönchengladbach) und Leroy Sané (FC Bayern) have all benn omitted from this latest squad showing just what a plethora of talent Hansi Flick has at his disposal.

Yes these are just friendlies, but the building process ahead of the 2024 European Championships has begun and there are seemingly places for newcomers to grab and make their own.

Full squad:

Goalkeepers: Marc-André Ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt), Bernd Leno (Fulham)

Defenders: Armel Bella Kotchap (Southampton), Matthias Ginter (SC Freiburg), Christian Günter (SC Freiburg), Thilo Kehrer (West Ham), David Raum (RB Leipzig), Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund), Josha Vagnoman (VfB Stuttgart), Marius Wolf (Borussia Dortmund)

Midfielders/ Attackers: Mergim Berisha (FC Augsburg), Emre Can (Borussia Dortmund), Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen), Serge Gnabry (Bayern Munich), Leon Goretzka (Bayern Munich), Mario Götze (Eintracht Frankfurt), Kai Havertz (Chelsea), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), Felix Nmecha (VfL Wolfsburg), Kevin Schade (Brentford), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig), Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

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