Liverpool forward Florian Wirtz and Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jonathan Burkardt will join the Germany camp early following injuries sustained by Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala.
Musiala did not feature in Germany’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League because of a muscle injury sustained in the warm-up.
Havertz then came off with an injury on the half-hour mark, with new coach Jurgen Klopp conceding afterwards that it was unlikely either would feature in Sunday’s game with Greece.
Klopp called up 44 players to his first Germany squad, which he split in two. Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen is the only player to feature in both groups.
The first group was picked to feature in the opening two games of an extended international break, with the second group picked for a game with Serbia and a return match with Greece.
Wirtz and Burkardt had both been selected as part of the second group but will now be in contention to feature against Greece in Augsburg after replacing Havertz and Musiala.
Klopp gets extended chance to work magic with Wirtz
Prior to the international break, Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher expressed his hope that Klopp could get the best out of Wirtz amid continued struggles to impact games for the Reds.
Frustrated by Wirtz’s performance in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth last time out, Carragher said on ‘The Jamie Carragher Podcast‘: “The one hope for Liverpool supporters now is Jurgen Klopp is the Germany manager.
“Wirtz goes away with the Germany team for three weeks, and he’s obviously one of the best players in Germany, that’s how they see him. Can Jurgen Klopp sprinkle a bit of stardust on him in that position?
“Jurgen is one of the greatest managers in the world, we know that. And what he gets out of players is probably more than most managers because of the nature of his personality, and fingers crossed something can happen for him.
“There’s a scenario there that Jurgen Klopp and Germany have a great international window, he gets loads of goals, assists and comes back on a high. Manchester City’s the next game, he impacts that, all is forgotten, all is forgiven. There’s a potential turnaround there.
“I would love that to happen, I’d love him to be the match-winner against Manchester City.”
Klopp will now get an extended chance to work with the oft-criticised Wirtz, who has 11 goals in 45 caps for his country.
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