Jurgen Klopp has omitted Newcastle United's club record signing Nick Woltemade from his latest Germany squad, deepening the 24-year-old's difficult 2026.
Klopp named a 44-man squad for his first four matches in charge across the September and October international break, split into two separate squads for the first two games and the second two games. He has now cut that down to a 24-man squad for the UEFA Nations League matches against Serbia and the Netherlands later this month, and Woltemade is among those left out.
Loan to Juventus
It is the latest blow in a bruising year for the forward, with Newcastle deciding he could leave on loan just a year after his club record £69million move from Stuttgart, following his struggles on Tyneside.
After a solid start at St James' Park, Woltemade's form in front of goal nosedived at the start of the year, and Eddie Howe decided he was better served as a midfielder or a No 10 as he looked for a solution. Despite Howe being succeeded by Matthias Jaissle in the summer, Woltemade failed to convince Jaissle he suited his system and was shipped out on loan to Juventus.
October MVP but no Serie A goals
Woltemade was named Juventus' October MVP earlier this week, largely for his performances in the Europa League, where he became just the third Juve player in history to score in his first three European matches for the club. He is, however, yet to score in eight Serie A appearances.
After missing a clear chance for his country in last month's win over Serbia, he has not done enough to convince Klopp to keep him in the squad, with Arsenal's Kai Havertz, Eintracht Frankfurt's Younes Ebnoutalib and Werder Bremen's Niklas Füllkrug preferred instead.
Thiaw retains place
Newcastle United defender Malick Thiaw has been named in the Germany squad, despite not featuring in any of the Magpies' last three matches after losing his place in the side to Fabian Schär. Thiaw earned plaudits for his two performances for Die Mannschaft last month alongside Borussia Dortmund defender Waldemar Anton, and the pair will compete with Dortmund's Nico Schlotterbeck and Bayern Munich's Jonathan Tah for game-time over the next couple of weeks.
The Germany squad to face Serbia and the Netherlands includes goalkeepers Alexander Nübel (Besiktas), Marc-André ter Stegen (Ajax) and Jonas Urbig (FC Bayern); defenders Waldemar Anton (Dortmund), Nathaniel Brown (FC Bayern), Finn Jeltsch (Stuttgart), Maximilian Mittelstädt (Stuttgart), Nico Schlotterbeck (Dortmund), Jonathan Tah (FC Bayern), Malick Thiaw (Newcastle) and Philipp Treu (Freiburg); midfielders Tom Bischof (FC Bayern), Said El Mala (FC Köln), Brajan Gruda (RB Leipzig), Lennart Karl (FC Bayern), Joshua Kimmich (FC Bayern), Wael Mohya (Gladbach), Felix Nmecha (Dortmund), Aleksandar Pavlovic (FC Bayern), Derry Scherhant (Freiburg) and Florian Wirtz (Liverpool); and strikers Younes Ebnoutalib (Eintracht Frankfurt), Niklas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen) and Kai Havertz (Arsenal).
