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Didi Hamann has highlighted three strikers with Premier League ties as being crucial to Der Mannschaft’s success at Euro 2020.
Hamann, who won 59 international caps for Germany between 1997 and 2005, said that Joachim Loew has plenty of big decisions to make as he prepares to name his side to face France on Tuesday.
And the former Liverpool star said that he’d like to see Kai Havertz earn a starring role in the side this summer.
“I think he is a brilliant player, he told 101 Great Goals.
“When he was 17 years old, he kept Leverkusen up with the deciding goal.
“He had a quiet start in England but as you have seen in the Champions League Final, he is a great player.
“He is a great passer of the ball, makes good decisions, he is two-footed, and he is a great finisher.
“He will be Germany’s main player in this tournament and for the next two or three tournaments.
“We must try and build the team around him.”
Hamann may have been fulsome in his praise of Havertz, but he was less impressed with the young star’s Chelsea team-mate, Timo Werner, who has struggled to settle in London since his move to Stamford Bridge.
The tournament will also represent the international swansong for Germany boss Loew, and Hamann said the pressure remains high on the departing boss this summer.
“Regardless of what happens, I think he has done a great job for German football,” he said.
“Before the last tournament he had not failed to reach the semi-finals at the previous five tournaments which is hugely impressive.
“However, if this tournament goes badly that will be back-to back poor performances and you are always remembered for your last performance.
“I think his legacy is on the line in that sense.”
And with Germany drawn in Euro 2020’s “Group of Death” alongside France, Portugal and Hungary, Hamann revealed that public confidence in the team is far from united ahead of their opening Group F clash with France on Tuesday.
“It’s always important and everyone always expects that Germany get out of the group stage as a minimum,” he said.
“In knockout football anything can happen and, with the manager stepping down after the tournament, the pressure is on.
“I’m not sure what the atmosphere in the squad is like. He has bought back Hummels and Muller, who he had previously been cut off from the squad, and that is a big decision.
“I think the people in Germany are fed up with Loew and think he should have stepped down after the World Cup.
“I don’t feel the whole nation is behind the team and that is very rarely a good think ahead of major tournament.”
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