How Turkey tried to recruit Niklas Süle for the national team
Bayern München's Niklas Süle has explained how he was approached by the Turkish Football Federation when he was a youngster.
Last year, it came out that the Turkish Football Federation tried to recruit Bayern München's Niklas Süle while he was playing for the German under-16 national team. Now, the German international has elaborated what happened at the time.
Apparently, the Turkish Football Federation assumed that he is of Turkish descent because of his surname. But he's not. Süle, who was born in Germany, also holds Hungarian citizenship.
"At that time, a German-speaking representative from the association called me and spoke to me directly in Turkish. I told him that, unfortunately, I didn't understand what he said," he told Die Welt and added:
"Then he asked me in German if I have any Turkish roots, and when I said no, the subject was all exhausted. It was funny."
Süle made his debut for the German national team in August 2016 and has appeared 15 times for 'Die Mannschaft'.