Forme Arsenal captain Per Mertesacker has said that German boss Hansi Flick should recall West Ham United defender Thilo Kehrer to the starting side to face Spain on Sunday night.
Kehrer, who had started 13 of Germany's last 16 games prior to their shock Group E defeat to Japan on Wednesday, was surprisngly left on the bench for the defeat, with Borussia Dortmind centre-back Niklas Sule playing as a right-back ahead of West Ham's Kehrer.
However, Mertesacker, who won the FA Cup three times with Arsenal and played 221 times for them between 2011 and 2018, has said that rather than making a massive overhaul in the team, he would just take out Sule's Dortmund teammate Nico Schlotterbeck, and replace him with Kehrer.
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Speaking in his column for German media outlet Kicker, the current head of the Gunners’ academy has said that he would move Sule to play at centre-back with Real Madrid’s former Chelsea star Antonio Rudiger and move Kehrer to right-back, a role he has regularly played in for both the Hammers and Germany.
Kehrer has so far made 23 appearances for Germany at senior level but is yet to score for his country’s first-team.
Germany currently sit rock-bottom of Group E with zero points after their opening game, knowing that they need to avoid defeat to bolster their chances of qualifying for the round of 16.
They will want to avoid their failure at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Going into the competition as defending champions, Germany crashed out in the group stages, ranking as the 22nd best team at the tournament.
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