Felix Keidel: Klopp's Bold Right-Back Choice

When Jürgen Klopp walked into his first press conference as Germany head coach, he didn’t bother with sentiment. This was a reset. Status gone, reputation parked at the door. Only a small core of players, he said, could feel anything like secure. Everything else would be earned: with form, with intensity, with work.

He revealed a list of 57 names under consideration for his first squad. No one saw it, but the message was obvious. No sacred cows. No old-boy network. And, crucially, room for players who had never been anywhere near the DFB setup.

After three World Cup failures in a row, Germany needed a break from its own past. Klopp promised one.

Now one of those unknown names has suddenly stepped into the light: Felix Keidel.

From 3. Liga to the National Team Radar

Late on Tuesday, Bild reported that the 23-year-old SV Elversberg player had received an invitation from Klopp. A day later, kicker backed it up with its own information. No rumour, no loose talk. Keidel is in the frame.

On paper, it looks like a bolt from the blue. Three Bundesliga appearances. One goal. Barely any experience at the top level. And yet, he has forced his way into the conversation for one of the most pressurised positions in German football.

Keidel’s story starts far away from the spotlight, at FC Ingolstadt. He joined their U19s in 2012 and quietly climbed every rung of the youth ladder until he reached the professional squad in the summer of 2022. No hype, no fanfare, just steady progress.

The real leap came in his first senior season. At 20, he established himself as a regular in the 3. Liga, playing 37 matches, scoring once and adding four assists. Those are not headline-grabbing numbers, but they tell a story: trust from the coach, reliability, availability. Week after week.

Then came the move that changed his trajectory.

In 2025, Elversberg – still stinging from narrowly missing out on promotion against 1. FC Heidenheim – decided to gamble. They bought Keidel out of his Ingolstadt contract for around €400,000. It was not a transfer that shook the league, but inside the club it was a statement: they saw something.

They were right. Keidel barely needed an adaptation period. Under Vincent Wagner, he became a regular almost immediately, making 25 appearances, 13 of them from the start. He didn’t just fill a shirt; he helped drive a promotion charge that stunned the league, as the Saarland club surged into the Bundesliga.

From the third tier to the top flight in a little over two years. That is the arc that caught Klopp’s eye.

And then came the first real test at the highest level. Three Bundesliga games so far – against Leverkusen, Gladbach and Bayern. One goal in those matches. On top of that, a DFB Cup outing against MSV Duisburg, where he produced two assists. A tiny sample size, yes, but enough for Klopp to pick up the phone.

The Shape-Shifter

Why Keidel? Why now?

Versatility. Klopp has always loved players who can solve multiple problems at once, and Keidel fits that mould almost perfectly.

At Ingolstadt, there was hardly a position he didn’t cover. His biggest advocate, coach Sabrina Wittmann, used him all over the pitch. Both full-back roles. His natural slot at right-back in a back four. Central midfield. Even as an attacking midfielder, drifting into the half-spaces, linking play and stretching defences.

He became the kind of player coaches lean on when injuries hit or systems change. Plug him in, and he delivers.

The move to Elversberg nudged him slightly deeper. In the promotion season, he mostly locked down the right-back position. Now, Wagner often deploys him in defensive midfield, typically alongside Lukasz Poreba. Different role, same reliability. He screens, he bites into duels, he keeps the ball moving.

For Klopp and Germany, though, the picture is clear. Keidel is being looked at primarily as a right-back.

Germany’s Long Search on the Right

This is where the story widens out. Since Philipp Lahm retired and Joshua Kimmich shifted permanently into central midfield, Germany have been searching for a convincing, long-term solution at right-back in a back four. No one has truly nailed it down.

Hansi Flick and Julian Nagelsmann both experimented. A lot. Benjamin Henrichs and Ridle Baku from Leipzig had their chances. Stuttgart’s Josha Vagnoman got a look. Kimmich himself was pushed back out wide again at the 2026 World Cup in a tactical throwback that never really convinced.

Each idea came and went. None stuck.

That is the vacancy Keidel walks into. Not just a squad spot, but a problem position that has haunted the national team for years.

Is he ready to solve it at 23, with only a handful of top-flight games behind him? That is the gamble. Klopp will find out quickly whether this is a bold masterstroke or a step too early.

What he does have is a player who has climbed every level the hard way, adapted to every role asked of him, and handled each promotion without blinking. From 3. Liga to Bundesliga, now to the national team stage.

German football has been waiting for a right-back it can build around again. Perhaps, of all people, it will be the quiet, versatile defender from Elversberg who finally claims the shirt.