Sane out of Germany's World Cup squad

Leroy Sane is one of four players to have been cut from Germany's provisional squad, meaning he will not play at the World Cup.

Manchester City star Leroy Sane has been left out of Germany's squad for the World Cup.

The winger is the most surprising name to have been cut from the provisional squad by head coach Joachim Low.

Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno, centre-back Jonathan Tah and Freiburg striker Nils Petersen are the other players to be omitted from the final group heading to Russia.

"It was a very close decision between him and Julian Brandt, which was made in favour of Brandt," Low told a news conference.

"The disappointment among the four was there for all to see.

"The decisions I and my coaches had to make were not easy. We analysed the training sessions and the Confederations Cup campaign and summed everything up.

"It's important to have variety in your squad for a tournament but balance, too. It's important to have backups in every position and to be able to deal with any situation that comes our way.

"It was almost like a 100-metre race at the Olympics, with a photo finish. I have to say thank you to the players in question for their attitude here. They gave absolutely everything in the fight for a place."

The decision to drop Sane comes despite his standout performances for City this season, who claimed a domestic double of the Premier League and EFL Cup.

The 22-year-old was named the PFA Young Player of the Year and was involved in 33 goals in competitive games in 2017-18 (14 goals and 19 assists), which is more than any other German player in Europe's top-five leagues.

Tah and Petersen were widely expected to be among the four players to miss the cut, although there is some surprise about the inclusion of Paris Saint-Germain's Kevin Trapp over Leno.

 

Germany's final 23-man World Cup squad in full:

Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain);  Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich); Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Marco Reus (Borussia Dortmund) Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich); Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Timo Werner (RB Leipzig).