On Monday afternoon, it was confirmed that Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen will be sidelined for at least eight months following a rupture to his patella tendon during a match against Villarreal.
While this would have undoubtedly thrown a spanner in the works for Hansi Flick, the head coach of the Catalan side, there will also be repercussions for the German national team.
Earlier this month, Julian Nagelsmann confirmed that ter Stegen would take over from Manuel Neuer as the number one for the national team following the intentional retirement of the Bayern Munich shot-stopper.
Having featured twice against The Netherlands and Hungary, it had appeared as though the 32-year-old was finally set to receive a prolonged run as Germany’s number one.
Nevertheless, following the news of his injury, Nagelsmann will have to decide upon who he wants to elect as ter Stegen’s replacement.
Thus far, there is no indication as to who the former Bayern head coach will choose, but there are a number of names for him to decide upon.
Who do the Germany fans want to see?
However, as well as this, Sky Germany have conducted their own voting system to understand who the German fans would want to see replace the Barcelona shot-stopper.
On this list are: Alexander Nübel, Oliver Baumann, Kevin Trapp, Bernd Leno, Noah Atubolu, and Stefan Ortega.
As it stands, VfB Stuttgart’s Nübel is comfortably leading the poll with 64% of the votes, with Ortega and Trapp following with 14% and 12%, respectively.
For Nagelsmann, this will not be a straightforward process, and there are suggestions that Neuer could make a return, but should he look in the long term, then Nübel is the clear favourite in the eyes of the German public.
GGFN | Will Shopland
