According to German media outlet Kicker, new German national team coach Jürgen Klopp will announce his first national squad on Thursday, and 20-year-old Köln attacker Said El Mara will receive a call-up. This will be his second time being selected for the German senior national team.

In November 2024, then-German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann first called up El Mara, who had rapidly risen at Köln the previous season, to the national team. However, he ultimately did not make his senior national team debut. After a friendly match against Luxembourg, Nagelsmann removed El Mara from the squad and sent him to report to the German U21 national team.

Almost 11 months later, El Mara is about to rejoin the German senior national team. According to Kicker, Klopp will announce his first squad as Germany coach on Thursday morning, and El Mara will be on the list.

This also means that El Mara is expected to make his German senior national team debut in the upcoming UEFA Nations League matches. Germany will face the Netherlands on September 24, Greece on September 27 and October 4, and Serbia on October 1.

El Mara quickly became an important player for Köln in his first Bundesliga season, helping the team successfully avoid relegation. In that season, he contributed 13 goals and 5 assists, directly or indirectly involved in over a third of Köln's goals.

Kicker notes that El Mara's biggest strength is his unconventional playing style, capable of creating unexpected moments with unpredictable actions. Furthermore, he rarely gives up during a match. The first Bundesliga match of the new season against Hoffenheim exemplifies this: El Mara, wearing the number 10 jersey for the first time—a symbol of greater responsibility—missed an excellent chance to equalize in the first half but remained focused and scored the 1-1 equalizer in the 51st minute.

Due to illness, this goal is also El Mara's only direct goal contribution so far this season. He missed the second Bundesliga match against Stuttgart because of illness; in the recent match against Werder Bremen, he only came on as a substitute in the final stages.

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