Jurgen Klopp Calls Up Florian Wirtz Early After Germany's Double Injury Blow

A U-turn forced by injuries

Germany coach Jurgen Klopp has been forced into an immediate change of plan. After the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, both Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz withdrew from the national squad through injury — and Klopp has responded by calling up Florian Wirtz and Eintracht Frankfurt's Jonathan Burkardt earlier than expected.

Wirtz, the Liverpool playmaker, had originally been left out of the group for this window, with Klopp intending to reintroduce him on his own schedule. The double injury blow accelerated that timeline overnight: with Musiala nursing a muscle fibre tear that is expected to keep him out for three to four weeks, and Havertz also unavailable, the new head coach simply could not do without him.

Eased in, not thrown in

Klopp was quick to manage expectations around the call-up. Wirtz is not set for an immediate introduction to the team, the coach stressed — the plan remains to ease him into the fold rather than hand him a start straight away. The early summons is about squad stability as much as it is about the player himself.

For Burkardt, the call-up is a reward for a strong start to the Bundesliga season with Frankfurt, and he now joins a forward group reshaped by the absences at short notice.

The backdrop

This is Klopp's first international window in charge of Germany, and it has already been eventful: a debut draw against the Netherlands, a growing injury list, and now a squad rework that brings one of the country's most gifted attackers into camp ahead of schedule. How Wirtz is used over the remaining Nations League fixtures will be one of the storylines of the week.

For Liverpool, the positive is that their player joins up fit and available. For Musiala and Havertz, the focus turns to recovery — and for Klopp, the lesson that no plan survives an international break entirely intact.