Said El Mala’s reported on move from the German senior team to the German U21s has been officially confirmed. German national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann has spoken on the matter, explaining why the young Kölner professional departed while his fellow 19-year-old Assan Ouédraogo was permitted to stay.
Ouédraogo was actually a late call up to the senior team while El Mala was part of Nagelsmann’s initial selection. Nagelsmann noted that El Mala’s departure was merely a “positional matter“. Borussia Dortmund winger Karim Adeyemi was suspended for the German national team’s previous World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg.
Adeyemi’s return means that Nagelsmann has both attacking flanks covered. Ouédraogo, meanwhile, was called up due to the fact that Nagelsmann wished to have additional players capable of serving as a No. 8. Nagelsmann insisted that El Mala turned in serviceable training performances, while also echoing some of the words of El Mala’s club coach Lukas Kwasniok.
“He [El Mala] needs to work on the areas that Lukas Kwasniok pointed out to him,” Nagelsmann remarked at a Monday DFB press event. “He needs to become an undisputed regular at his club. It was his first time here [at senior level] and he was a very pleasant young man. He’s both humble and brash enough.“
