Germany U21 head coach Antonio Di Salvo also nominated his first squad of the 2025/26 cycle. A total of 13 Bundesliga players have been called up to the latest 23-man-squad. Despite the fact that this summer’s UEFA 2025 European U21 championships did constitute the “end of the line” for many long serving U21s, there are five returnees from the team that lost the Final to the England U21s.
Lukas Ullrich (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Brajan Gruda (Brighton), Nicolo Tresoldi (Club Brugge), Nelson Weiper (Mainz 05), and Elias Baum (Eintracht Frankfurt) all participated in the competition and are back. Players with some U21 experience that were not part of the summer tournament squad also return.
Tom Rothe (Union Berlin), Aljoscha Kemlein (also Union), Umut Tohumcu (Hoffenheim), Hendry Blank (RB Salzburg), Leandro Morgalla (also Salzburg), and Linus Gechter (Hertha) receive their first call ups since the autumn international breaks of calendar year 2024.
Notable absences
Paul Wanner will not be included, but Di Salvo insisted that this had nothing to do with the German-Austrian prospect’s controversial recent transfer to PSV Eindhoven. An ankle injury incurred shortly after Wanner moved to Holland will keep the former Bayern Munich man sidelined. Bayern’s Tom Bischof is also not fully fit after recently undergoing an appendectomy.
Eintracht Frankfurt defender Nnamdi Collins is also absent, but that’s due to the very joyful reason that Julian Nagelsmann has opted to call the 21-year-old up to the senior men’s national team. Gladbach’s Jens Castrop successfully switched his international allegiance to South Korea and has immediately been called up to the senior Taeguks for the September international break.
Intriguing new arrivals
Freshly signed FC Augsburg professional Anton Kade has made the cut. So too has new Union Berlin club record setting striker Ilyas Ansah. After a very strong training camp and a start on opening day for VfL Wolfsburg, striker Dzenan Pejcinovic’s time at Germany’s highest youth level has come. Returning Hoffenheim loanee Muhammed Damar has also parlayed his strong camp unto a U21 call-up.
Bayern Munich defensive midfielder Noël Aséko Nkili – currently serving on a second extended loan stint with Hannover 96 – makes the jump from the U20s to the U21s. Hotly-traded expensive Brighton target Said El Mala is on board as well. New Southampton signing Joshua Quarshie and Stuttgart’s Finn Jeltsch have been called up before, but are still awaiting their first U21 caps.
Three new goalkeepers
Jonas Urbig (Bayern), Noah Atubolu (Freiburg), and Tjark Ernst (Hertha) are all no longer under Di Salvo’s aegis. Surprise new Werder Bremen No. 1 Mio Backhaus (with just one Bundesliga start) is technically the keeper with the most top flight German footballing experience and the presumed starter. Promising Stuttgart goalkeeping prospect Dennis Seimen – loaned out to Paderborn this season – has also been called up.
One assumes that Backhaus and the third keeper called up will both get run outs in a friendly against Albania next Friday. The U21s then start their 2027 U21 European Championship qualifying campaign against Latvia on next Tuesday, September 9th. Will it be Backhaus or expensive new Burnley signing Max Weiß who gets to start between the sticks? It shall prove interesting to find out.
Di Salvo’s words
“We are very excited because the process of rebuilding a team and getting to know the players personally is always very exciting,” Di Salvo noted in a Friday DFB press release. “The mix of experienced U21 players and new players is good. Now it’s a matter of quickly growing together as a unit and getting off to a successful start in the European Championship qualifiers. We’ll gain some initial insights from the Albania test.“
The full squad:
Keepers:
Mio Backhaus, Dennis Seimen, Max Weiß
Defenders:
Elias Baum, Hendry Blank, Linus Gechter, Finn Jeltsch, Leandro Morgalla, Joshua Quarshie, Tom Rothe, Lukas Ullrich
Midfielders:
Noël Aséko Nkili, Muhammed Damar, Said El Mala, Brajan Gruda, Anton Kade, Aljoscha Kemlein, Mert Kömür, Umut Tohumcu
Forwards:
Ilyas Ansah, Dzenan Pejcinovic, Nicolo Tresoldi, Nelson Weiper
GGFN | Peter Weis
