Bayern Munich youngster Lennart Karl was given his first ever callup to the German national team senior squad by Julian Nagelsmann for this month’s international break for friendlies vs. Switzerland and Ghana, fulfilling what’s felt like destiny with just how much he’s impressed at Bayern so far this season. No one expected Karl’s quick rise to prominence in Bayern’s team, but the window of opportunity was there for the taking with Jamal Musiala’s long-term injury absence and took the most of the chances
Vincent Kompany has given him.
In the 4-3 friendly win over Switzerland in Basel, Karl came on as a second half sub to replace Leroy Sané, earning his first ever appearance for the senior Germany squad. While he didn’t get himself on the scoresheet, he impressed with his 28 minute appearance, looked confident on the ball, and showed what’s to come in what’s likely to be a long career with the national team, though it’s still not 100% decided if he’ll be in the World Cup squad.
After the Switzerland win, Liverpool’s Florian Wirtz, who registered to goals and two assists in the winning effort, spoke about his first impressions of Karl; a player that he had not yet played with or against before in his career. “Very good. I saw him in training for the first time this week, he’s a top player. It’s a lot of fun to play with him. We don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but we’ll have a lot of fun with him in the coming years. We just have to enjoy the fact he’s German and can help us,” the German playmaker enthused (via @iMiaSanMia).
There’s striking similarities in the style of play between Wirtz and Karl as they both offer a high level of creativity on the ball that’s incredibly effective in the half spaces in between the lines. They can also both play either wide or centrally in attack and at some point in the future, whether it’s still Nagelsmann at the helm or someone else, it will really be a treat to see these two play alongside one another on a relatively consistent basis for Germany.
