Jenz sets sights on German national team
Speaking at a Thursday media round, VfL Wolfsburg defender Moritz Jenz expressed his desire to play for Julian Nagelsmann's senior German national team.
For Berlin-natvie Moritz Jenz, the path back to his home country has been a long one. Some eight years after he left the Tennis Borussia youth program in Germany's capital city to join the Fulham academy ranks, Jenz was finally gifted a chance to play in the Bundesliga last spring when his French parent club Lorient loaned him out to Schalke.
Jenz ended up joining Wolfsburg on a permanent basis this summer. The 24-year-old central defender faces stiff competition for a place in the Niko Kovac's starting XI. The roster of Germany's green company team also features talented center backs Cedric Zesiger, Sebastiaan Bornauw, and Maxence Lacroix. Jenz - who has had some injury issues this season - has started just two of seven league fixtures.
Jenz spoke on his future for both club and country a Thursday club media round. Regarding his fellow central defenders, Jenz insisted that the quartet appreciated the "healthy competition" and "always push each other in training". When it came to his ambitions for country, Jenz let there be no doubt that he preferred to represent Germany despite the fact that his father's heritage might also allow him to play for Nigeria.
"My goal is to play for the German national team," the player flatly stated.
Jenz never represented Germany at youth level, something that naturally isn't necessarily relevant in the current German footballing landscape. Recent call-ups to Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann's Nationalmannschaft Chris Führich and Kevin Behrens also never suited up for the DFB Juniors. In reflecting on the possibility of following in their footsteps, Jenz commented on the fact that the German FA hadn't reached out to him yet.
"Perhaps I just wasn't good enough yet," Jenz said.