Manchester City star Leroy Sane has been sensationally left out of Germany’s final 23-man squad for the World Cup in Russia.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed an emphatic season under Pep Guardiola and won the PFA young player of the year award but Joachim Low has deemed him surplus to requirements as Germany prepare to defend their title.
Sane was among a small group of players to sit down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, just 24 hours before he was brutally axed.
Julian Brandt, Leon Goretzka, Jonas Hector, Joshua Kimmich and Marc-Andre ter Stegen were also involved in the discussion at the squad’s Italian training base in Eppan.
Brandt appears to be the man preferred to Sane while Julian Draxler and Marco Reus have also been selected as wide options.
‘That was a very close decision between him and Julian Brandt, which was made in favor of Brandt,’ Low said in his press conference on Monday.
‘Draxler, Reus and (Thomas) Muller are set. Leroy has a huge talent. He will be back again from September. He had not arrived in international matches yet.
‘If it was a 100m race, it would have been a photo finish.’
The decision to omit Sane, who scored 14 goals and contributed 15 assists this season as City eased to the Premier League title, comes as a surprise given how Low waxed lyrical over the youngster in October 2017.
‘He already has something extraordinary in the game and that speed that is needed internationally,’ the boss said then.
‘And, moreover, he can make a difference in some games with his speed. If he continues to develop, he will be very happy to us in the future.’
Joachim Low confirmed his squad of stars as Germany prepare to defend their title in Russia
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