“Not so happy with all the statements”: Jürgen Klopp offers a quiet self-critique – and explains his decision in favour of Niclas Füllkrug

As Füllkrug kept scoring for Werder Bremen, calls for his return to the Germany squad had grown ever louder in recent weeks. Klopp had given little away, but said in a much-discussed half-time interview during the Champions League match between Bayern Munich and Arsenal: "Niclas Füllkrug is 33. That’s not my fault!" After repeated questions, Füllkrug himself said he wanted the discussion to die down.

"I’m not exactly happy with everything I’ve said in half-time interviews," Klopp said with a grin on DFB.TV while announcing the squad for the second training camp of his tenure as Germany coach. The 59-year-old wasn't poking fun at his "fault" remark, which had caused considerable debate. Rather, he was referring to his ill-judged comments about Harry Kane’s role and Vincent Kompany’s system at the German record champions, which he himself had said he "did not understand". Klopp subsequently faced sharp criticism, mainly because he had come across more like a TV pundit than a Germany coach. He had held that pundit role for Magenta at the 2026 World Cup.

Klopp stressed, however, that he still stood by his comments about Füllkrug. He had "only listed facts". "Then he was on Sportstudio and I thought: Now we’ve spoken so much about each other, we might as well speak to each other. We did that, well before the squad announcement," he added. It was "the first time" the two had spoken, although the conversation had felt as though they had known each other for longer.

Why did Jürgen Klopp bring Niclas Füllkrug back? A "relatively easy" decision

Füllkrug's comeback after more than a year away was a sporting decision, Klopp explained. "He has an incredible influence on the game. Not just through his goals, but also through the way he carries himself. (…) I don’t think he has been able to have that influence on a team at every stage of his career — at Bremen, he can. When you feel at home, you can see what happens. That’s generally the feeling we want to give the players, even if we don’t have them together very often," said Klopp.

With twelve goals in ten competitive matches since returning to Bremen, Füllkrug is currently the leading German goalscorer in Europe’s top five leagues. "If the European Championship were tomorrow, which it isn’t, we would of course take him," Klopp stressed, adding: "From that perspective, the decision to include him was relatively easy."

When did Niclas Füllkrug last play for Germany?

Füllkrug made his debut under Hansi Flick almost exactly four years ago and has since made 24 appearances for Germany, scoring 14 goals. His last appearances, however, came at the Nations League finals in summer 2025. He was last named in the squad in September of that year.

By contrast, Jonathan Burkardt (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Nick Woltemade (Jonathan Tah) have not made the squad this time. Alongside Füllkrug, Kai Havertz (Arsenal) and Burkardt’s team-mate Younes Ebnoutalib are earmarked for the attack. Gladbach youngster Wael Mohya is also a new face in the Germany squad.