Germany has felt the impact of losing some potential stars to other nations in recent years.
Imagine this: a German attack featuring not only Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, but also Juventus star Kenan Yıldız. Off the bench, there’s Eintracht’s Can Uzun, Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza, and Hoffenheim star Fisnik Asllani. Behind them in midfield, Inter’s Hakan Çalhanoğlu is next to Joshua Kimmich or Aleksandar Pavlović. In defense, Leipzig veteran Willi Orbán adds sorely-needed depth and quality.
All of those players were born in Germany and developed in the Bundesliga, but many of them do not play for Die Mannschaft. Orbán has become a key figure for Hungary, Asllani is on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup with Kosovo, while Yıldız, Uzun, and Çalhanoğlu are just a few German-born players who chose Türkiye.
That’s not to say that they all should play for Germany, or that all talent should be on the traditional top national teams. Everyone has their reasons for why they play for their national team. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang famously chose Gabon over France and Italy, for instance, because of his father.
Some players are also just late bloomers. France could be forgiven for letting Serhou Guirassy end up with Guinea, with the 26-year-old in the midst of an alright season in Ligue 1. Now one of the best strikers in Europe, Guirassy would undoubtedly have a spot in France’s squad if he were not cap-tied.
Every team loses dual-nationals, but two things make Germany’s instance unique. First, how often it happens; second, how desperate the national team is for fresh talent. It’s become a massive problem.
Looking at Die Mannschaft, one major dual-national stands out: Jamal Musiala. The fact that the Bayern star chose his home country over England was a massive coup. He has since struck up a strong partnership with Florian Wirtz, bringing Germany back from a dark period to once again be one of Europe’s best teams, at least in theory.
Convincing Aleksandar Pavlović to pick Nagelsmann’s men over Serbia was crucial, too. The 21-year-old is one of the best midfielders in the world when healthy and has the potential to be a key figure for both Bayern Munich and Germany for years to come.
Outside of the Bayern duo, there aren’t too many young dual-nats in the team.
Karim Adeyemi and Kevin Schade chose Germany over Nigeria, a country that frankly has better attacking depth, although its federation is constantly in self-destruct mode. Nathaniel Brown was not particularly interested in the United States, making that an easy recruiting battle.
Assan Ouédraogo was the latest addition to the team, earning a deserved (emergency) call-up after a strong start to the season with RB Leipzig. While it’s somewhat unlikely he would’ve represented Burkina Faso, it’s still a relief for Nagelsmann & co. to see him commit to Germany.
But the losses have been bad.
Even ignoring the names that have already been mentioned, there are simply tons of talent that the DFB has missed out on. Lazar Samardžić, Josip Stanisic, Malik Tillman, Noahkai Banks, Bence Dárdai, and Kerim Alajbegović are all capable of making an impact for Germany, either now or in the future. All are cap-tied to other nations.
And, while it’s true that not all of them would be ready for Die Mannschaft by the time other nations called them up, some of Germany’s sales pitches have been pretty lame.
Let’s look at Kenan Yıldız, for example. I wrote about this one when he made his Türkiye debut, not because I’m some all-knowing fortune teller or scout, but because it was painfully obvious this one would come back to haunt Germany.
Yıldız was in Bayern Munich’s academy for a decade before joining Juventus. In Italy, he had an outstanding year with the Primavera squad and then made the jump to their first team under legendary manager Massimiliano Allegri. He never got a call-up for Germany at any level.
That’s scandalous. How do you let someone who is impressing at youth level for two of the biggest teams in Europe, and then becomes a starter for one of them, go without even attempting to bring them in?
Yıldız promptly scored in his first-ever international start, against … Germany. In Berlin.
He’s now the face of Juventus and starring for an up-and-coming Türkiye team. Meanwhile, with a spot in the World Cup on the line, Nagelsmann is forced to call up an uninspiring Leroy Sané, who ironically plays for Galatasaray, among others.
Türkiye alone has a few examples of DFB’s recruiting whiffs. While somewhat painful in retrospect, the loss of Çalhanoğlu can be excused, given where Germany’s midfield was — he debuted for the national team in 2013, one year before Die Mannschaft would win the World Cup — and the fact that he was playing in the 2. Bundesliga at the time.
But Can Uzun, one of the highest-rated talents in the Bundesliga, was a rough one, given his potential and performances this season. Stuttgart captain Atakan Karazor rejected interest from Nagelsmann to join Türkiye — where, it should be mentioned, he has yet to make an appearance. Even players like Eren Dinkçi, who may not be the biggest loss on paper, may have been able to contribute for Die Mannschaft at some point.
Outside of Türkiye, look at Ibrahim Maza. The midfielder has been one of the breakout stars for Bayer Leverkusen this season, and at 19, he has plenty of room to grow. He’s already committed to Algeria because of … competition at the position? Germany couldn’t convince a teenager that he’d get enough chances for a team that’s recently called up Pascal Groß, Leon Goretzka, and Nadiem Amiri?
Now, Germany won’t win every recruiting battle, and they don’t have to. At the end of the day, if Uzun really wants to play for Türkiye, then he’s going to play for Türkiye. And losing a player like Dinkçi, who would be a nice option but will never be a lock in the squad, is not a big deal.
But the DFB needs to be making these decisions much more difficult for the players. Instead, they’re making it difficult for themselves.
Why, for instance, was Karim Adeyemi getting minutes with Germany’s U21s as recently as last year? Full internationals should not be training or playing for the youth teams. The pipeline needs to keep moving, and new players need to be given chances. At all levels, and at all times.
That needs to include the main team, too. Germany needs to be quicker to move on from players like Sané or Leon Goretzka, both of whom have been significantly underperforming in recent seasons. Nagelsmann is still talking about a potential return in goal for 39-year-old Manuel Neuer, who, granted, is still playing at an elite level, and 33-year-old Marc-André ter Stegen, who is not.
This is not necessarily a dual-national problem. The national team desperately needs new blood, and has for some time. Thomas Müller is still capable of playing for Germany, as was Neuer, but they stepped away from international duty for a reason. Young players need to be brought into this team, dual-nats or not.
Still, it needs to be acknowledged that there’s a little more urgency with dual-nats. All it takes is one international window to lose a future key player forever.
Why Nagelsmann waited so long to call up Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu when Nigeria were circling was a mystery. Ultimately, his hand was forced when Oli Baumann picked up an injury in training, allowing Atubolu to be called up as a reserve in his place.
Atubolu should’ve been called up even if he wasn’t eligible for another country. At only 23, he’s been established as Freiburg’s starting goalkeeper for three seasons now. He’s made 14 appearances in Europa League. He’s one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga, as well as the youngest to play every match this season.
The fact that he could’ve ended up a Super Eagle instead should’ve made his call-up a priority — but it didn’t. That’s something that desperately needs to be corrected.
Talent-wise, Germany has fallen behind the world’s elite. They are getting back up there, thanks largely to young stars like Musiala and Florian Wirtz. But the DFB isn’t helping itself with a complete lack of energy when it comes to recruiting.
It’s not even just young players, either.
One last example. A few years ago, both Germany and Spain were absolutely starving for a striker. In 2023, Spain called up Stuttgart-born Joselu, who would earn a move to Real Madrid shortly after. Germany called up Kevin Behrens. Remember him? Probably not.
The fact is, times have changed. Germany is no longer the most enticing team in the world, and every player loss hurts in a big way. Every team loses out on a player now and then, but compare the Die Mannschaft squad to France and Spain — they don’t feel it the same way.
On Monday, Germany plays Slovakia — the same team that beat Germany 2-0 earlier this year. Now, Slovakia is taking them to the final day in World Cup qualifying.
That game — between a team with one World Cup appearance and a team that has won it four times — will likely guarantee automatic qualification. You can bet that Julian Nagelsmann would feel much more confident if he had Kenan Yıldız.
–
Image via eintracht.de.
