‘I would have liked to stay’: Kimmich reluctantly leaves Germany squad after Greece defeat | OneFootball

Joshua Kimmich says he would have preferred to remain with Germany for the rest of the international break, while accepting Jürgen Klopp's plan to rotate across two squads. His exit comes after a 1-0 home defeat by Greece.

Germany drew 1-1 away to the Netherlands then lost 1-0 at home to Greece. According to BuLi News, they now head into Serbia at home and Greece away with a much-changed squad.

For his first selection as head coach, Klopp called up 44 players and split them into two groups. After the opening two matches, most of the first group were sent home, including captain Kimmich.

"I would have liked to stay, but I also understand that the coach wants to get to know some other players. That was the plan from the beginning, that we would rotate the squads. Accordingly, I'll be cheering the team on from home," Kimmich told reporters.

Klopp kept six players from that initial group for the next two games, though Kimmich was not among them. "I was hoping a little bit until the end that I might be able to stay," he admitted.

Source: BuLi News

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”