sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Germany Have A New No.10 Following Mesut Ozil's Retirement

Germany Have A New No.10 Following Mesut Ozil's Retirement

They've announced their next batch of squad numbers...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Mesut Ozil's retirement from international football following his claims of racism within the DFB have meant Germany have bestowed the iconic No.10 shirt onto a new player.

Bayer Leverkusen winger Julian Brandt, who was actually one of Germany's bright sparks in a disastrous World Cup campaign, has been given the jersey for the UEFA Nations League clash with world champions France and subsequent friendly game against Brazil.

The 22-year old isn't expected to move into a central role and replace Ozil in that sense, but him moving from No.20 to #10 would suggest that Joachim Low believes he can be a key player going forward.

Kai Havertz, Brandt's Bayer teammate, will be taking on his No.20 shirt, while Leon Goretzka is now the new No.6 for Die Mannschaft. Here are the other squad number changes to have taken place:

Brandt, who scored 12 goals in all competitions, hopes to do the business with the coveted number and said so in a recent press conference.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach man has also called for the team to well and truly put the World Cup behind them this week.

Image: PA
Image: PA

"I think we're all playing for the team, in a way," he said.

"The coach [Low] held a very long presser, in which he put a lot of blame on himself, but obviously, even though this topic will follow us around for a while, we're trying to leave that behind and look to the future, starting this Thursday.

"We want to play well as a team. The coach - who is a part of the team as I mentioned before - together we'll try to show him our best version and prove to him that he can still count on us, and that we can still count on him."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Mesut Ozil, Germany, World Cup