Jürgen Klopp’s Germany project kicks off on the pitch on 24 September. His first squad, unveiled on Thursday at the DFB Campus in Frankfurt, was the first concrete look at how the 59-year-old wants to rebuild the national team.
The most striking call sits between the posts. Ter Stegen returns as the undisputed No. 1 at 34, ending months of speculation over the goalkeeper hierarchy. Jonas Urbig, still only 23, is among the deputies alongside Alexander Nübel and Finn Dahmen.
Klopp’s outfield choices carry more risk. Reporting on the day of the announcement placed Yann Aurel Bisseck and Brajan Gruda in the group, while Leroy Sané was left out and Deniz Undav dropped in what several German outlets described as a surprise omission.
Kimmich moves back to the middle
Joshua Kimmich is being redeployed at the base of central midfield, the position where he has been most influential at Bayern Munich. He had spent much of the previous international cycle at right-back.
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Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck are expected to remain the first-choice centre-back pairing.
Netherlands away first up
The opener is on Thursday, 24 September at the Johan Cruijff ArenA against the Netherlands, followed by a second match in the September international window.
Klopp has only two training sessions with the group before the flight to Amsterdam. He had already told reporters at his unveiling that he wanted to widen the pool of players in contention.
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Ahead of Thursday’s announcement, he struck a similar tone, telling Sportschau he was approaching the role “with full optimism”.
Germany’s squad regroups on 21 September at the team’s training base in Herzogenaurach before travelling to Amsterdam.
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