Deniz Undav #26

Profile

Undav was by far the most clinical German striker this season but, for some reason, Nagelsmann does not seem to rate him. He scored the winning goal in the March friendly against Ghana but afterwards the coach offered no praise, rather a critical backhand. “He wasn’t very involved in the game, had no actions before [the goal],” Nagelsmann said. “I didn’t think his performance was good.” The coach’s comments may have stemmed from Undav saying before the game that he felt he should start rather than just being a substitute, a task Nagelsmann had assigned him in the now infamous “role talks”. Nagelsmann was not entirely wrong, but saying it publicly was unusual. Someone has to put the ball in the net and, in a team without many natural finishers, Undav – a modern-day Gerd Müller – is an exception.

Key stats