Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno has pulled out of Germany's squad for their upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Belarus and Estonia due to a thumb injury.
The shot stopper was set to join up with the national team after being an unused substitute in Arsenal's 4-1 Europa League final defeat to Chelsea, but that unfortunately won't be the case.
He continues to suffer from a recurring thumb problem, with Germany's goalkeeping coach Andy Koepke confirming whilst speaking with Yahoo Sport that Leno will miss out on the upcoming qualifiers as a result.
He said: "I know that Bernd has had some pain in his hand recently. He is going to have a splint put on his thumb, so we won't be able to play him in the two upcoming games."
@Bernd_Leno is out of the Germany squad for #BLRGER and #GEREST with a thumb injury, so @FCBayernEN's Sven #Ulreich has been called up to replace him.#DieMannschaft pic.twitter.com/CfDozXJAf3
— Germany (@DFB_Team_EN) June 1, 2019
The injury means Germany have opted to hand a first-ever international call up to Bayern Munich's Sven Ulreich, with Koepke going on to insist that he has earned his call up after stepping up when he was needed for Bayern this season.
He added: "Sven has earned this call-up. He has shown top performances whenever he was needed for Bayern this season, and has great quality."
Joachim Lowe's side got their qualifying campaign off to a very dramatic start as Nico Schulz scored an injury time winner to snatch a 3-2 win over the Netherlands in Amsterdam, therefore wins in their next two games would put them in a great position to take command of Group C after just three games.
Source : 90min