Wolfsburg forward Lukas Nmecha has earned his first call-up to the Germany squad with head coach Hansi Flick including him for the final 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Armenia, and it is a worthy reward for his recent performances for the Wolves.

Nmecha could make his debut on home soil, with Liechtenstein visiting the VW-Arena on 11 November, and Flick says he is keen on taking a closer look at the 22-year-old former Manchester City man.

"He's technically on a high level, he runs a lot and he's very mobile," said the Germany coach. "He always tries to create gaps and is a slightly different type of player to the ones we currently have."

Without giving Nmecha a guarantee he will make his senior debut, Flick says that having him in the squad is about much more than that. "We wanted to bring in one or two new players to have a look at how they fit into the team and the squad," he said to the dpa. "Of course that also means on the training field."

Watch: Lukas Nmecha on his maiden Germany call-up

For Nmecha, who lifted the U21 Euro in Ljubljana in May, it is an opportunity the knocks for which have been growing in volume for some time.

With four goals in ten Bundesliga outings, of which five were as a substitute, he has pushed his way into the picture at club level. His winning goal against Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League during the week was also not lost on Flick, who said it just "underlined how he can score goals" after seeing him do so more than anybody else at the U21 Euro, with the winning goal against Portugal in the final taking him onto four for the tournament.

"I've watched Lukas' recent games against Freiburg and Salzburg, and what I really like about him is how active he is and how well he holds the ball up," continued Flick. "He also makes good runs and these are all things which are particularly important for a centre forward."

About the players

10

Lukas Okechukwu

Nmecha

VfL Wolfsburg

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That has also convinced new Wolfsburg coach Florian Kohfeldt to count on a player who started the season on the bench, only breaking into the first team under Mark van Bommel when injuries deprived the Dutch coach of his other main attacking option Wout Weghorst.

He has started Wolfsburg's last six fixtures and held on to his place, even with Weghorst now back. Not only that, he has made a difference in nearly every game he has played, earning the Wolves victory in three straight matches after grabbing the only goal of the game against Augsburg on Matchday 11.

"It's been a really good week for me and I hope it continues like this," he told NDR. "The team's creating a lot right now and, as a striker, you've got to put them away."

His pace and strength on the ball, combined with his excellent dribbling skills, make Nmecha an option alone up front, alongside Weghorst or even as a wide decoy, and while Flick says he may not yet have the same strength as somebody "like Horst Hrubesch," he acknowledged how even this aspect of the forward's game is coming on leaps and bounds.

Watch: Nmecha was among the goals in Florian Kohfeldt's first game as Wolfsburg coach

On Saturday, he showed just how quickly he is progressing too, with a fine headed goal that even Hrubesch - renowned for his aerial prowess as a centre forward - would have been proud of, though he humbly suggested all the merit in Wolfsburg's recent resurgence is not his own.

"When the team are playing well, it's always good for a striker," Nmecha said. "But in the eight games before when things were not going so well, it wasn't going well for me or Wout either."

It certainly is now, though, with Nmecha's "dream" of representing Germany - a choice he made after representing England at youth level - about to come true, and deservedly so.

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VfL Wolfsburg

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