Jürgen Klopp already wanted to sign him twice: can a star ignored by Julian Nagelsmann hope for a comeback in the Germany team?
He was named by Julian Nagelsmann only three times and missed the last two major tournaments. Julian Brandt's start at Ajax is now fuelling hopes of a comeback in the Germany team - as is Nagelsmann's successor.
By the end of July, when Ajax Amsterdam officially became Julian Brandt's new home, even outsiders could see how fired up he was. He spoke glowingly about the Dutch record champions' football DNA, their hunger for success, the atmosphere in the stadium and the sincere efforts technical director Jordi Cruyff had made to bring him in.
Less than a month later, Brandt's start in Amsterdam could hardly have gone much better. The former Dortmund man made his mark in his very first league appearance for his new club, coming off the bench against PEC Zwolle, combining brilliantly with Mika Godts, who has since moved to PSG, and scoring to seal a 2-0 win.
Across his two starts so far, in Conference League qualifying against Shelbourne and Sion, Brandt has taken his tally to three goals in five games. Particularly the goal in last week's 4-2 away win in Switzerland stood out. First because it mattered so much, bringing Ajax level at 1-1 early in the second half. Then because of the finish itself: from 20 metres out, Brandt took the ball, shifted it into shooting position and whipped it into the top corner with superb touch and the required power.
Julian Brandt: Good start at Ajax despite van der Vaart's jibes
"Brandt is showing his world class," Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf wrote of the goal. The playmaker wears the No. 8 shirt and operates as the most advanced of the three midfielders in Ajax's usual 4-3-3. After a long search for the right new club, he has settled quickly and is already setting the tone with his experience and class. A jibe from a big name in Dutch football during his first few weeks is unlikely to trouble him much.
Meanwhile, Ajax legend Rafael van der Vaart, known for expansive but not always entirely objective criticism, had no interest in being compared with Ajax's new man. "Oh, come on, he doesn't even reach 20 per cent of what I was," said van der Vaart on the NOS football podcast after presenter Thierry Boon had likened Brandt's style of play to his own from back in the day. "I also have to say that I was irritated by the people who were completely thrilled by the transfer," the former midfielder added, insisting Ajax should not be grateful for Brandt but Brandt for the chance to play for Ajax, because: "He is a bit of a fair-weather footballer. When things are going well, everything works, and when they're not, we get annoyed by it."
Still, van der Vaart did also offer some brief praise, calling Brandt a "good addition": "He is very calm and the first impression is very good. You can also see how he helps the young players."
Back in the spring, it was already clear that Brandt wanted and needed a change after seven years at BVB. There was no shortage of interest, from Leeds United to Atletico Madrid and Roma. Yet the technician chose the Eredivisie over one of the top five leagues, even though the Dutch league lacks the same depth. After weighing it all up, he decided Ajax, who also have international ambitions and want more in future than just the Conference League, were the perfect fit for his strengths. And perhaps the national team was somewhere in the back of his mind too.
Will Jürgen Klopp bring Julian Brandt back into the Germany team?
At 30, Brandt is right in the middle of a footballer's prime and could still have several years at the top ahead of him. So why not target a return to the Germany squad? Especially now the coach who largely overlooked him for almost three years is gone.
Since making his international debut in 2016, Brandt had long been a regular for the national team under Joachim Löw and Hansi Flick. Under Julian Nagelsmann, though, that lasted only two international breaks. One reason Brandt slipped out of favour was that he started the much-discussed horror friendlies against Turkey (2-3) and Austria (0-2) in November 2023.
From that point, he disappeared from the picture for the time being, missed Euro 2024 on home soil and received only a third and final call-up from Nagelsmann in November 2024. Even then, as the Germany coach admitted at the time, he was mainly drafted in because of several injury-related absences. "If the entire Euros squad had been available, he might not have been there," explained Nagelsmann, who shortly afterwards handed Brandt what remains the last of his 48 international caps so far in the 1-1 draw against Hungary in the Nations League. There has not been another call-up in the good 21 months since then, and the 2026 World Cup also passed without Brandt.
Now, though, the chances of that changing for Euro 2028, and of Brandt finally featuring at a European Championship after the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, have increased simply because of the change of coach after the embarrassing round-of-32 exit at the World Cup. One thing is certain: Jürgen Klopp rates Brandt very highly.
Jürgen Klopp wanted to bring Julian Brandt to BVB and Liverpool
As far back as 2013, the then BVB coach wanted to sign Brandt, with Dortmund needing a replacement for Mario Götze after his move to Bayern Munich, as is well known. "They were very successful at the time and had a cohesive squad, had just become German champions twice (2011 and 2012) and were in the Champions League final (2013). That's why I was a little in awe and asked myself: 'Will I get enough playing time? Maybe Leverkusen is the better step,'" Brandt once recalled to The Athletic.
The 17-year-old turned Klopp down and moved from Wolfsburg to Bayer 04 instead, where he quickly established himself in the first team. A few years later, in 2017, Klopp, now at Liverpool, made another move for Brandt, by then 21 and an established Bundesliga player. "I had the chance to take the next step and go to Liverpool, but the time wasn't ripe for me [...] It's a shame, because I would have liked to play for Kloppo," the 30-year-old said as he looked back on rejecting Klopp again.
Later, Ian Graham, who worked for Liverpool from 2012 to 2022 and spent a long time as their head analyst, revealed in the documentary How to Win the Champions League: Liverpool 2019 that, in the search for attacking reinforcements, Brandt had even been Klopp's preferred option ahead of Mohamed Salah. "Jürgen obviously knew him very well because he played in the Bundesliga. We all agreed that Brandt was a very good young player, but not as outstanding as Mo," Graham explained, making clear that he preferred the Egyptian. In the end, Klopp's staff convinced him to change course. Salah joined Anfield instead of Brandt and became an icon there.
Will Julian Brandt celebrate his comeback in the national team in his new home?
Since joining Dortmund two years later, Brandt has shown at BVB that, despite Nagelsmann repeatedly overlooking him, he still has qualities that could add something to the national team. He has carried that into his first games for Ajax and, apart from the two exceptional talents Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala, nobody in the attacking central midfield role looks nailed down for the future of the Germany team. At the very least, nobody has recently made that position their own.
That makes it entirely possible that Brandt's name will appear in the Germany squad again for the first time on 17 September. He still has several Ajax matches before then to strengthen his case. And Germany's first international under Klopp could hardly be more fitting: on 24 September it takes place, of all places, in Brandt's new living room, the Johan Cruijff Arena in Amsterdam, against the Netherlands. If "Kloppo" wants him there, Brandt certainly would not turn him down for a third time.
