Germany coach Hansi Flick has justified his decision to include Southampton’s Armel Bella Kotchap in his latest squad.
The Southampton youngster was a surprise inclusion in Germany’s squad for the next international break yesterday, a decision that has taken most by surprise.
He’s set to make his international debut if he features, a rapid rise for a player who only made his debut for the U21s last year.
Some have questioned the decision, but Flick has moved to quash any doubts, insisting they’ve been looking at him for a while.
“He has made a very good development in the past months at Southampton,” T-Online report him saying in a video published by the DFB.
“Danny Röhl (co-coach of the national team, editor’s note) was on site and observed him. We want to use the next eight days to see him.”
“He has made excellent progress over the past few months. For us as the U21 coaching team, bringing the players up to Hansi’s team is one of our main tasks,” added U21 coach Antonio Di Salvo.
The call up marks the next step in a rapid rise for Bella-Kotchap, who joined Southampton in a £9m deal from Bochum in the summer.
He’s been a regular for the Saints since and T-Online say the team around Flick ‘must have been impressed’ by what they’ve seen.
In fact, they believe he is now regarded are ‘one of the most exciting and biggest talents’ in the United Kingdom.
They even speculate that Southampton could be the start of a ‘great career’ given recent transfers out of Saint Mary’s.
Both Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk used the club ‘as a springboard’ to ‘recommend themselves’ to top clubs, eventually ending up at Liverpool.
There is a feeling Bella-Kotchap could do the same, with his call-up to the Germany squad only likely to earn him more recognition.
