Vitaly Janelt has his first Germany call-up, and he is treating it like a late opening rather than a coronation. One of eleven newcomers in Jürgen Klopp's squad, the Brentford midfielder says the chance feels precious, because he believes it may not come again.

"This is one of the last chances for me to be there at one or another major tournament," Vitaly Janelt told SPORT1, in comments translated from German. The line fits the rest of what he said. Ten years older, with a little daughter, he sounds more settled than the player who last spent time in the Germany setup as a teenager.

Janelt's long road back

That route has not been straightforward. Exactly ten years have passed since the then 18-year-old was involved in a scandal during a U19 national team training camp in Albania, when a shisha pipe is said to have caught fire in the hotel room he shared with Idrissa Touré. Both players were suspended by Frank Kramer and sent home early, while Ralf Rangnick later parted ways with both of them.

Janelt has been asked about it enough times to sound tired of the old story, but he is also clear that he moved on. "I think everyone has to take their mistakes from that. I realised that relatively quickly. What was, was," he said. The U21 title he won in 2021 with players like Florian Wirtz and Nico Schlotterbeck helped move the football conversation on, but this senior call-up is the first real payoff.

Brentford form and the Germany opening

The case for Janelt is not built on nostalgia. At Brentford, he has played at least 30 competitive matches in almost every season, and this season he already has 5 Premier League appearances, 453 minutes and 2 goals. His average rating of 7.12 is not the sort of number that screams sensation, but it does back up the sense that he has been a steady Premier League midfielder rather than a one-off pick.

Janelt's own description of his game fits that profile. "I am a team player. I do the dirty work for the boys in front of me," he said, and added that he tries to be a link between younger and older players. The timing of the call-up also makes sense. Germany's recent line of L D L W W leaves room for balance in midfield, and Janelt is on the verge of a debut that could come against Serbia on Thursday or in Greece on Sunday evening.

The call-up does not erase the old scandal, and it does not guarantee a cap. It does give Janelt a senior opening at 30, after years of club reliability and one long detour away from the national team.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →