Germany’s most valuable footballer heading into the final Nations League window is 22-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder Aleksandar Pavlovic, valued at around €93.8m by Football Transfers. He is the only name in Klopp’s squad above the €90m mark.
A year ago that would have been an afterthought. Over the past 12 months, on Football Transfers’ valuations, Wirtz has fallen from €138.1m to €79.3m. Musiala, who is not in the November squad as he recovers from a right thigh muscle tear suffered in the warm-up before Germany’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in September, has slipped from €150.7m to €87.7m.
Klopp was appointed on 24 July, replacing Julian Nagelsmann, who resigned after Germany’s Round of 32 elimination by Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup. He signed a contract through to 2030.
His Germany record now reads one win, two draws and one defeat.
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Beaten at home by Greece
Germany lost 1-0 to Greece at the WWK Arena, dominating possession (75.8%) and attempts (16 shots to eight) before a deflected 74th-minute strike from substitute Dimitrios Kourbelis settled it. The expected-goals total read 1.27 to 0.72 in Germany’s favour.
It was the first time Greece had beaten Germany across their 11 meetings, a sequence dating back to 1960.
Klopp called the defeat “part of the process” in his post-match press conference, and said he could have lived with not winning the game but not with losing it.
Klopp frames it as depth
Klopp has gone with Werder Bremen striker Niclas Fullkrug ahead of Nick Woltemade for the November double-header, and handed a first senior call-up to 17-year-old Wael Mohya.
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Asked about the calls, he described Germany’s depth as a problem of the right kind.
“The more quality you have at your disposal, the more difficult your decisions become, in a positive sense,” he said.
It is a reading of the squad the market does not fully share. The same window has Germany trailing the Netherlands and Greece, who lead Group A2 on eight points each with Klopp’s side on five.
The reform Klopp wanted
Klopp has been publicly pushing for a dedicated U21 league in Germany since 2025, when he was Red Bull’s global football head. He made the case as part of a DFL expert group that also included 2014 World Cup winner Sami Khedira.
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The argument was that German teenagers between U17 and U23 level were not getting enough competitive minutes to make the jump to senior football.
The DFL eventually went with a less ambitious model, the Bundesliga Talent Series, before drawing up fresh plans for a voluntary U21 league from the 2026-27 season.
The group ends on 16 November
Germany travel to Serbia on 13 November and host the Netherlands three days later. The Dutch and Greece are three points clear of Klopp’s side at the top of Group A2.
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