Unlucky quartet in the Germany team: Jürgen Klopp’s beacons of hope shine in “squad 3”

Jürgen Klopp’s four strikers in his XXL squad have yet to score. Paris Brunner and Nicolo Tresoldi, meanwhile, are scoring freely for the Under-21s – and Deniz Undav is also building confidence.

Deniz Undav would not have circled this one on the calendar. Thursday 1 October, 5.30pm, VfB Stuttgart's friendly against Greuther Fürth. At that point, the crowd favourite had wanted to be away with Germany preparing for the international against Serbia. Instead, Jürgen Klopp left him out of both squads, 44 players in total, because he "has not really found his way into the season yet".

Undav had at least laid on four assists for Stuttgart. But he had been waiting a long time for a goal of his own, ever since his late winner against Ivory Coast in the second group game of the World Cup. Add up every appearance in every competition and friendly, and he had gone ten matches without scoring. That wait ended against Fürth, when he hit a brace in the 5-0 win.

Those goals sent a little reminder Klopp's way, as he still waits for the first striker's goal of his reign. Germany's three goals under the new head coach have all come from midfielders. Felix Nmecha scored in the 1-1 against the Netherlands, while Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz secured the relieving 2-0 win against Serbia.

Havertz, Ebnoutalib, Burkardt and Woltemade goalless under Klopp

Against the Netherlands in Klopp's debut, the obvious choice led the line: Kai Havertz. The 27-year-old from English champions Arsenal had to go off after just half an hour with a muscle strain and subsequently even had to leave the national team camp. Debutant Younes Ebnoutalib, 23, of Eintracht Frankfurt replaced him, but he did not fully convince either in the remaining time against the Netherlands or in his subsequent start against Greece (0-1).

Then Nick Woltemade got his chance from the start against Serbia after the squad change. The 25-year-old has had turbulent months. Last summer's huge hype, including a €75 million move to Newcastle United, gave way to a disappointing season with the World Cup as the low point, before he went out on loan to Juventus. Against Serbia, Woltemade was heavily involved and showed his presence in the box, but his finishing lacked the necessary precision. In the 59th minute he missed a huge chance when he fired wide from close range with no one around him.

Jonathan Burkardt, Klopp's fourth striker, came off the bench against both Greece and Serbia. Across his 38 minutes on the pitch, he managed only one harmless shot. The 26-year-old from Eintracht Frankfurt may get his chance from the start in the return match in Greece on Sunday in Thessaloniki.

So far, no striker has truly made a case for more minutes. Klopp is therefore likely to be keeping a close eye on Undav's form, but he will also be watching developments in his "Squad 3" with interest. Because Germany's Under-21s currently have two strikers forcing their way into the picture.

Paris Brunner and Nicolo Tresoldi cause a stir for the Under-21s

Paris Brunner, 20, followed his strong start to the season with AS Monaco by scoring twice straight away on his Under-21 debut against Latvia last Saturday. Nicolo Tresoldi, 22, of Club Brugge also got on the scoresheet, before following it up with a hat-trick in the 4-1 against Malta on Wednesday. With 16 goals in total, Tresoldi now sits third in the all-time scoring list for the Under-21 national team behind Heiko Herrlich (17 goals) and Pierre Littbarski (18). After Bischof's promotion to Klopp's senior national team, Tresoldi even captained the side.

Tresoldi himself, unlike Brunner and Bischof, is currently not yet in line for promotion. That is not down to his performances, but to his still unanswered nationality question. Alongside Klopp, Italy coach Roberto Mancini is also courting the triple national intensely, while he would theoretically also be eligible for Argentina. A decision is not expected until after the Under-21 European Championship next summer.

"My heart is 50:50. Both countries mean a great deal to me," Tresoldi said recently. "I wear the Germany shirt with pride, I really love being here. I still want to play in the Euros here. After that, we will see what happens next." He said he has already had "good talks" with Klopp. "I explained my situation to him, and he understood it. He is a super person. It was not a coach-player conversation, but like a father-son conversation. He said the door is always open for me." After the luckless displays of the quartet used so far, that door now looks more open than ever.