Nagelsmann discusses Leno's rejected Germany call-up
| Bernd Leno. | Photo: Granada, CC-by-SA 4.0 |
Earlier this week, Bernd Leno revealed that he turned down a call-up to the German national team this month because he was told he most likely wouldn't get to play.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann shared his side of the story at a press conference on Thursday, telling reporters;
"In the end, I can live with his explanation. It's relatively simple: he made demands in our conversation that I couldn't fulfill for internal reasons that I discuss with the coaching team.
“That's why I gave him a very interesting perspective, not in the short term, but in the medium term. The player was not so happy with that that he decided not to come.”
He added that while it's not impossible for Leno to play for Germany again, his decision hasn't made his prospects of doing so in the future any brighter.
"In the end, everyone has to decide for themselves how they want to organize things. Bernd made that decision. I'm not closing the door, but it hasn't opened any wider now. If he plays brilliantly and everyone else doesn't, the door can open wider.
“He's not 25 anymore, but he has a certain maturity to judge things. If that's the way he wants to judge it, he's welcome to do it.”
