Deniz Undav will not have had Thursday, 1 October, 5.30pm circled on his calendar. VfB Stuttgart were facing Greuther Fürth in a friendly, while he had hoped to be away with Germany preparing for the international against Serbia. Instead, Jürgen Klopp left the fan favourite out of both of his squads, 44 players in total, because he "has not really found his way into the season yet".
Undav had at least laid on four assists for Stuttgart. Goals, though, had dried up. He had not scored since his late winner against Ivory Coast in the second group game of the World Cup, which now feels a long time ago. Add up every appearance in all competitions and friendlies, and Undav had gone 10 matches without a goal. That run finally ended against Fürth, when he struck twice in the 5-0 win.
Those two finishes offered at least a small reminder to Klopp, whose Germany side are still waiting for the first striker's goal of his reign. All three goals under the new national coach have come from midfielders so far. Felix Nmecha scored in the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, while Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz secured the relieving 2-0 win over Serbia.
Havertz, Ebnoutalib, Burkardt and Woltemade goalless under Klopp
For Klopp's debut against the Netherlands, the obvious option led the line: Kai Havertz. The 27-year-old from English champions Arsenal, however, had to go off after just half an hour with a muscle strain and subsequently even had to leave the national team camp. Debutant Younes Ebnoutalib (23) of Eintracht Frankfurt replaced him, but he did not fully convince either in the rest of that game or in his subsequent start against Greece (0-1).
Then Nick Woltemade got his chance from the start against Serbia after the squad change. The 25-year-old has had eventful months. Last summer's huge hype, including a €75 million move to Newcastle United, gave way to a disappointing season, with the World Cup the low point, before he moved on loan to Juventus. Against Serbia, Woltemade linked play well and showed a presence in the box, but his finishing let him down. In the 59th minute, he missed a huge chance when he fired wide from close range despite being completely unmarked.
Jonathan Burkardt, Klopp's fourth striker option, came off the bench against both Greece and Serbia. Across 38 minutes in total, he managed only one harmless shot. The 26-year-old from Eintracht Frankfurt may get his chance from the start in the return match in Greece on Sunday in Thessaloniki.
So far, none of the strikers has really made a case for more minutes. Klopp is therefore likely to be watching Undav's form closely, and he will also be keeping a benevolent eye on developments in his "squad 3". Germany's Under-21s currently have two forwards pushing themselves firmly into the spotlight.
IMAGOParis Brunner and Nicolo Tresoldi make waves with the Under-21s
Paris Brunner (20) has started the season strongly with AS Monaco and scored twice straight away on his Under-21 debut against Latvia last Saturday. Nicolo Tresoldi (22) of Club Brugge also got on the scoresheet, before following that up with a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Malta on Wednesday. With 16 goals in total, Tresoldi now sits third in the all-time scoring list of the Under-21 national team behind Heiko Herrlich (17 goals) and Pierre Littbarski (18). After Bischof's move up to Klopp's senior national team, Tresoldi even captained the side.
Tresoldi himself, unlike Brunner and Bischof, is currently not in contention for promotion, at least not yet. That is not down to his performances, but to his still unresolved nationality question. Italy coach Roberto Mancini, alongside Klopp, is also pushing hard for the player with triple citizenship, while he would also theoretically be eligible to play for Argentina. A decision is only expected after the Under-21 European Championship next summer.
"My heart is 50:50. Both countries mean a great deal to me," Tresoldi said recently. "I wear the Germany shirt with pride, I'm super happy here. I still want to play the Euros here. After that, we'll see what happens next." He said he has already had "good talks" with Klopp. "I explained my situation to him, and he understood it. He is a great person. It wasn't a coach-player conversation, but like a father-son conversation. He said the door is always open for me." After the luckless displays of the quartet used so far, that door now looks more open than ever.