Felix Keidel: Klopp’s Wildcard Right-Back from 3. Liga

When Jürgen Klopp sat down for his first press conference as Germany head coach, he stripped everything back. No sacred cows, no guaranteed caps. Only “performance, form and work rate” would count.

He backed that up with numbers. A 57-man shortlist for his opening squad, names kept deliberately under wraps, and a clear promise: after three disastrous World Cup campaigns, the DFB team would be rebuilt with fresh legs and fresh faces.

One of those faces, almost out of nowhere, is Felix Keidel.

Late on Tuesday, Bild broke the story that the 23-year-old from SV Elversberg had received an invitation from the new Bundestrainer. A day later, kicker confirmed it with its own information. The reaction across German football was the same: Keidel? Really?

Three Bundesliga games. That’s his entire top-flight résumé so far. No real experience at the very highest level. Yet he now finds himself on the brink of the national team.

From Ingolstadt’s Academy to the Bundesliga Fast Lane

Keidel’s rise has not been glamorous. It has been relentless.

He joined FC Ingolstadt’s U19s back in 2012 and quietly climbed every rung of the youth ladder. By the summer of 2022, he had forced his way into the first team. At 20, he became a regular in the 3. Liga, racking up 37 appearances in his debut senior season, chipping in with one goal and four assists.

No hype, no headlines. Just minutes, tackles, and steady improvement.

Then came the jump. In 2025, Elversberg – still smarting after narrowly missing out on promotion to 1. FC Heidenheim – paid a modest €400,000 to buy him out of his Ingolstadt contract. It looked like a sensible, low-risk move for a club in transition.

It turned into a masterstroke.

Keidel barely blinked at the step up. He slotted straight into Vincent Wagner’s side, made 25 appearances, started 13 times, and became a key cog in a team that stunned the country by clinching promotion to the Bundesliga. In a little over two years, he had climbed from the third tier to the top division.

This season, he has finally tasted the Bundesliga. Three games: against Leverkusen, Gladbach and, most recently, Bayern. One goal in the league. Plus a DFB Cup outing against MSV Duisburg, where he laid on two assists.

That, apparently, was enough for Klopp. Enough to see something others had missed.

A Fix for Germany’s Problem Position?

The real hook with Keidel is not just his story. It’s his profile.

Klopp values versatility. Keidel offers it in spades.

At Ingolstadt, there was hardly a role he didn’t fill. Under coach Sabrina Wittmann, he played both full-back positions. His natural spot is right-back in a back four, but he also featured in central midfield and even pushed into attacking midfield, operating as a playmaker and half-space runner.

Elversberg have used him differently. During the promotion campaign he primarily lined up at right-back, but Wagner has increasingly dropped him into defensive midfield alongside Lukasz Poreba. The responsibilities changed. The engine and game intelligence stayed.

For Klopp, though, the picture is clear. Keidel is being eyed above all as a right-back.

That position has been a nagging headache for Germany ever since Philipp Lahm retired and Joshua Kimmich moved permanently into central midfield. Hansi Flick and Julian Nagelsmann both searched for a solution, trying a carousel of options without finding a long-term answer.

• Benjamin Henrichs and Ridle Baku at Leipzig.
• Josha Vagnoman at Stuttgart.
• Even Kimmich himself, shifted back there again at the 2026 World Cup.

Each experiment was short-lived. None truly convinced.

German football is still waiting for a right-back who can own that flank for years, not months.

So here comes Felix Keidel, 23 years old, three Bundesliga appearances to his name, walking into a vacancy that has swallowed bigger reputations.

Is he already at the level to shape the DFB team from day one? That’s unclear. But his adaptability, his willingness to cover multiple roles, and his rapid rise through the divisions have clearly caught Klopp’s eye.

Of all the names on that 57-man list, perhaps it will be the quiet worker from Elversberg who finally nails down the most problematic position of all.