Germany U21 players Joshua Quarshie and Arijon Ibrahimovic look forward to ‘homecoming match’ in Fürth | OneFootball

Two of head coach Antonio Di Salvo’s Germany U21 call-ups for the current November international break are looking forward to a special homecoming tomorrow evening. Southhampton defender Joshua Quarshie finally found success whilst playing on loan at SpVgg Greuther Fürth during the 2024/25 2. Bundesliga campaign. Current Heidenheim professional Arijon Ibrahimovic hails from the area and came up through the Fürth academy. 

Quarshie definitely wouldn’t be an EFL Championship player had he not raised his profile with the Kleeblätter last year. Ibrahimovic owes his entire footballing career to the SpVgg academy. The now 19-year-old trained with the smaller Nürnberg-metro-area club before moving to 1. FC Nürnberg and later the Bayern Munich campus.

Both players expressed enthusiasm to be headed back to the Sportpark Ronhof for Friday’s 2027 UEFA U21 European Championship qualifying match against Malta. Quarshie conducted an interview with Kicker whilst Ibrahimovic spoke at a Tuesday DFB media round table. 

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again,” Quarshie told Kicker, “It wasn’t an easy season last year, but we had some great moments. I’m glad I got the chance to go to England this offseason. The Premier League is a dream of mine and the move to Southampton [in the Championship] is the first step in that direction.”

“I’m really happy to be back,” Ibrahimovic revealed at the DFB media event. “The whole family lives in this area. I was given a great welcome [to the U21s] and am really grateful for the change of scenery [after his Bundesliga loan club suffered a humiliating defeat last weekend]. We won’t underestimate the opponent [Malta] and will hopefully deliver.“

GGFN | Peter Weis