Klopp must drop debutant Brajan Gruda due to abdominal injury

Jürgen Klopp must temporarily shield the 22‑year‑old attacking midfielder Brajan Gruda of RB Leipzig from his XXL squad for the upcoming four internationals, because the player suffered a stomach injury during a club match against Bayer Leverkusen. The injury, which was diagnosed on Sunday after half an hour of play, makes a possible German debut unattainable.

Klopp assembled an XXL squad of as many as 44 players for Germany's four upcoming internationals. The group was split into two, with Brajan Gruda falling into the second group and therefore not playing against the Dutch national team on Thursday.

Largest squad ever, but Gruda misses chances

The second group has the opportunity to play at home against Serbia and away against Greece. Because Gruda made it clear on Monday that he is unavailable due to the stomach injury, he will have to miss both fixtures.

The injury occurred on Sunday during RB Leipzig's club match against Bayer Leverkusen, which they lost 2‑0. After about half an hour of play, damage to the abdominal muscles was diagnosed.

For now, Klopp has not called up a replacement to fill the gap. It remains unclear whether an additional name will be added to the squad later.

Gruda is playing this season on loan at Leipzig, after Brighton & Hove Albion bought him two years ago from FSV Mainz 05 for just over thirty million euros. That marquee transfer earned him a first call‑up for the German national team at the time.

At the time, Gruda was indeed invited to Die Mannschaft, but he could not start then. Now he must be patient once again before he can make his first international appearance.