Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports DE has confirmed that German national team head coach Hansi Flick and Manchester City midfielder İlkay Gündoğan have recently had a phone call in which Flick and Gündoğan came to an agreement that the player would not be called up to the German national team for the upcoming games in March.
While this may seem a reaction to Gündoğan’s poor performances in Qatar in November, it is actually due to Gündoğan being an expecting father. Both parties hope to continue working together in the future, but for now Gündoğan will remain home with his partner.
His absence is a big one, as he was Flick’s first choice to partner Joshua Kimmich in midfield. We could see Bayern Munich’s Leon Goretzka re-introduced to the starting eleven, who is chief amongst the candidates to replace him.
Either way, we congratulate Gündoğan on entering a new phase of his life and wish him the very best in his family life, something which should always take priority over football.