Nicolas Kuhn has become the star of Celtic’s campaign so far, and there has even been talk of a surprise Germany call-up becoming a possibility for the 24-year-old.
The former RB Leipzig man has thrived under Brendan Rodgers after a promising pre-season showing. He has gone on to score ten goals and register 11 assists across all competitions.
Excitingly, Julian Nagelsmann referenced Kuhn’s Germany call-up chances during the break, claiming that he is someone Die Mannschaft are ‘keeping an eye on’ as they prepare for the Nations League knockouts in March.
Although the idea of a Celtic star featuring for an elite international side appears far-fetched, Arne Engels made his full debut for Belgium last week, so it isn’t exactly out of the ordinary.
Regardless, Kuhn will have to be at his absolute best to stand a chance and pundit Tam McManus believes there may be one factor that could stand him in good stead to achieve such a feat.
Tam McManus on Nicolas Kuhn’s Germany chances
Speaking on PLZ Soccer, McManus thinks Kuhn’s performances in the Champions League will ultimately determine whether he is given a shot at international stardom with Germany.
He stated “I think his performances in the Champions League dictate it. Our league is not the strongest and I think that if you’re the manager of Germany, you’re picking most of the players from the Bundesliga or maybe the English Premier League.
But if he does the business, you know, he was outstanding, one of the best individual performances I’ve seen from a Celtic player against Leipzig. If he does that in the rest of the games in the Champions League, he’ll definitely catch the manager’s eye, but those are the games for he’s got to play out his skin.
If he does that, he’ll maybe get a call-up. I think he has been the best player in Scotland this season, ten goals and 11 assists. Last season, he really struggled; he didn’t look fit, and he looked out of sorts. This season, totally transformed and he’s been superb this season.”
Nicolas Kuhn’s motivations will benefit Celtic
Kuhn has been in magnificent form this season, becoming a pillar of creativity and evolving into an unpredictable presence on the right-hand side.
Per stat-trackers Fotmob, the former Rapid Vienna man has fashioned 22 chances on Scottish Premiership duty alongside taking on 28 shots, 12 of which hitting the target.
Combining his eye for goal and intuition and mixing it with his dribbling ability, there is still a lot of untapped development to be had within his game that Celtic supporters may pay witness to over the coming months.
Should that happen and he pushes his international dream closer, the man who stands to benefit most from that is Rodgers.
