After Bentaleb: Klopp pulls a new card from Morocco's hand

The German coach succeeds in snatching two Moroccan talents within weeks

Morocco have suffered a fresh blow in their efforts to recruit dual-nationality talents. Wael Mohya, the Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder, has chosen to represent Germany following his first call-up to the senior national team under head coach Jürgen Klopp.

Klopp named his Germany squad today, Thursday, ahead of the UEFA Nations League matches. The 17-year-old Mohya made the cut alongside a clutch of young talents, part of the coach's push to refresh the side and hand chances to rising names.

Born in Mettmann near Düsseldorf to Moroccan parents, Mohya is one of German football's brightest prospects. He has caught the eye at Mönchengladbach, scoring two Bundesliga goals in a row despite his side's difficult start to the season.

In technical terms the call-up was no surprise, given Klopp's clear admiration for the player's potential. For the Moroccan federation, though, it stings. They had tried to convince Mohya to represent the "Atlas Lions" over recent months.

According to a report by "Afrik-Foot", Morocco's coaching staff, led by Mohamed Wahbi, recently reached out to the player in a bid to include him in the November camp. Mohya asked for time to think, without closing the door on the Moroccan national team.

Signs around the player still pointed towards Germany. Then Klopp stepped into the negotiations, sitting down with the young talent to lay out his project and convince him to start his international career with the Germans.

The call-up crowns a remarkable rise. Mohya already has experience with Germany's youth national teams, to go with those impressive Bundesliga showings at such a young age.

Klopp made no secret of his admiration for the Mönchengladbach man, insisting the call-up forms part of a long-term vision for the German national team's future.

The German coach said of the player: "He is one of those cases where you have to pay close attention. There are not many 17-year-olds currently playing in the Bundesliga, and that in itself is an exceptional achievement. But he is not just playing, he is performing to a very good level."

He added, as reported by the newspaper "Marca": "I got in touch with him and his family, and we talked about the way we want to handle this. I am genuinely interested in building the future with these players, Wael among them, without making any promises or anything like that."

For Klopp, the camp offers Mohya a chance to soak up the atmosphere of the senior setup at close quarters. "We agreed to include him mainly so that he can experience it," he said. "It is important that he lives the training sessions himself when this opportunity is available to him."

Any future involvement, he stressed, will hinge on Mohya's performances and conduct on and off the pitch. Then came a joke at the youngster's expense: "I was not as confident in myself as he is when I was seventeen, but I also was not as good as him at that age!"

Mohya's choice echoes the case of Younes Bentaleb. The Eintracht Frankfurt striker opted for Germany last September, after the Moroccan federation had tried to land him too.

Klopp, the report says, also swayed Bentaleb's decision. The player later summed up his choice bluntly: "When Klopp calls you, you have to go."

And so Morocco lose another talent of Moroccan origin to Germany in a matter of months, the same script playing out with players the federation hoped to see in the "Atlas Lions" shirt.