'Absolutely up for it': International giant turns to exciting Celtic starlet in surprise move
Klopp summons recent Celtic signing for upcoming matches
Celtic midfielder Mika Baur has been handed a surprise call-up by Germany for the upcoming international break.
New Germany head coach Jurgen Klopp has named a 44-man squad, his first since taking over from Julian Nagelsmann this summer, and Baur has been selected for the first time.
A German under-21 internationalist, Baur has been rewarded for his good start to life at Celtic. The Scottish Premiership champions paid Paderborn just under £5 million for the 22-year-old and he has quickly become a mainstay of the team.
Germany have two Nations League A matches against Netherlands and Greece later this month, before facing Serbia and Greece again in early October. Klopp has split his squad in two, with Baur set to be involved against the Serbians in Augsburg on October 1 and then the Greeks in Thessaloniki on October 4.
On Baur, Klopp said: “I consider him really exciting. He’s absolutely up for it. We also spoke on the phone about the weather in Glasgow – something I know well from Liverpool. With this move, he’s taken on a very challenging step.”
Baur will hope to further impress Klopp with Celtic before joining up with the squad next week.
He is expected to start Thursday night’s Europa League match against Ferencvaros at Celtic Park before facing Rangers on Sunday at home in the league.
Germany squad for Netherlands and Greece
Goalkeepers: Finn Dahmen, Alexander Nübel, Marc-André ter Stegen.
Defenders: Hennes Behrens, Yann Aurel Bisseck, Nathaniel Brown, Max Rosenfelder, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah, Philipp Treu, Josha Vagnoman.
Midfielders: Nadiem Amiri, Bambasé Conté, Yannik Engelhardt, Christ Führich, Serge Gnabry, Lennart Karl, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala, Felix Nmecha, Kevin Schade, Anton Stach.
Strikers: Younes Ebnoutalib, Kai Havertz.
Germany squad for Serbia and Greece
Goalkeepers: Noah Atubolu, Finn Dahmen, Jonas Urbig.
Defenders: Waldemar Anton, Ridle Baku, Finn Jeltsch, Maximilian Mittelstädt, David Raum, Malick Thiaw.
Midfielders: Karim Adeyemi, Mika Baur, Tom Bischof, Saïd El Mala, Brajan Bruda, Vitaly Janelt, Felix Keidel, Aleksandar Pavlović, Derry Scherhant, Florian Wirtz.
Strikers: Jonathan Burkardt, Nick Woltemade.
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