16 internationals he has already played, now Union Berlin’s newcomer Robin Gosens also beckons his Bundesliga debut. This order has only been made three times.
Robin Gosens has been dreaming of the Bundesliga for many years, but one year before the home European Championship, the desire was certainly particularly great: from his record transfer from Inter Milan to 1. FC Union Berlin, the 29-year-old left-back is hoping for plenty of match practice, unlike recently in Italy, and thus a permanent place with national coach Hansi Flick.
Gosens has already made 16 appearances for the national team, most recently in June in the disappointing 0:2 loss to Colombia at Schalke. Soon he will now belong to a very special and very small circle of national players: In the 60-year history of the Bundesliga, there have only been three players who made their debut in the Bundesliga after that in the German national team. This does not include players who made their national team debuts before the Bundesliga was formed.
The first of the trio was Thomas Hitzlsperger. Less than a year after his debut in the DFB jersey under Jürgen Klinsmann, the midfielder joined coach Giovanni Trapattoni’s VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2005 and made his debut on 6 August 2005 in Duisburg (1:1). Two years later he was German champion.
Mustafi’s brief Bundesliga intermezzo
When Shkodran Mustafi made his debut for Germany on 13 May 2014, he was still playing for Sampdoria Genoa in Serie A, and even after winning the World Cup title two months later, the centre-back initially continued his career abroad. After stints at Valencia and Arsenal, he only joined a Bundesliga club for the first time in February 2021 with Schalke. Even Mustafi, who later joined UD Levante and is currently without a club, was unable to prevent relegation in his 13 league appearances.
Finally, Karim Adeyemi made his Bundesliga debut in third place after his DFB debut. When he moved from RB Salzburg to Borussia Dortmund last summer, the winger already had four caps to his name. He has yet to make another since then.
Gosens could become the fourth in line when Union Berlin host Mainz in their Bundesliga opener next Sunday. He is still on a par with Robert Huth: the former centre-back is still the only international besides Gosens who has never played in the Bundesliga.
