Sheffield United winger Reda Khadra has been given a timely and confidence boosting call into the Germany under-21 squad.
Khadra has featured twice for the German second string already. Both those appearances have ended in defeat, including a 3-1 loss against England at Bramall Lane earlier this year.
However, despite his international experiences mirroring his time with United so far, Khadra has been given the call once more in place of Mainz striker, Jonathan Burkardt. Confirmed by the German national team’s Twitter account, Khadra takes the place of the 22-year-old striker.
Khadra’s time in Sheffield has so far been a major disappointment. Despite getting a crucial winning goal at Swansea City, Khadra has only started four times for United.
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He suffered a major disappointment a few weeks back, too. The German was taken off by Paul Heckingbottom after just 34 minutes at Bristol City. Since then, he’s featured only sporadically off the bench.
However, the German FA clearly sees enough in Khadra to warrant keeping the faith. And for United and Khadra, this could bring a welcome confidence boost.
Germany takes on Italy under-21s on Saturday. Khadra, then, will be hoping to use the game to get some vital minutes in his legs.
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You get the feeling it’s going to go one way or the other for Khadra when the season restarts.
There is no doubt the talent is there for him to be a success. It’s just about him finding his spot in the XI or even off the bench and showing he can impact games. So far, despite playing out of position and not starting a lot, he’s failed to really show why he should be starting.
But, if he can get some minutes for Germany and even nick a goal or an assist, that will do him good. For United, they’ll simply hope he gets through the game without being injured.
Paul Heckingbottom has given some of the squad seven days off. Khadra, though, will be hoping to make the most of this unexpected chance of game-time.
