The Serbian national team coach hints after Aleksandar Pavlovic’s nomination for the German national team: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann made his decision in favour of the midfielder so that he would not play for Serbia later.
Following the nomination of Aleksandar Pavlovic for the German senior national team, the Serbian national coach has hinted that national coach Julian Nagelsmann decided in favour of the FC Bayern professional so quickly because the DFB learned of the Serbian association’s efforts to recruit Pavlovic.
„I think there was a lot of pressure on the DFB and Nagelsmann had to call him when they saw that Serbia were serious and really wanted him,“ said Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic.
The 59-year-old reported: „We had him on our list for two years. We tried everything, from December we were in contact with his family, later his agent was involved and then Aleksandar himself.“
According to media reports at the time, Pavlovic cancelled the Serbian’s request because he did not want to commit himself yet. Pavlovic was born in Munich, but has both German and Serbian citizenship, as his mother is from Germany and his father is from Serbia.
According to coach Stojkovic, the 19-year-old has been in the Serbs‘ sights for some time. The coaching team is said to have been in talks with his relatives since December.
Stojkovic on Pavlovic: „We haven’t lost him“
As reported by kicker, FC Bayern became aware of the Serbian association’s strong endeavours on Pavlovic’s behalf and then informed the DFB. Pavlovic was originally intended for the German U21 team, but then Nagelsmann nominated him directly for the senior national team.
In the end, however, all the excitement surrounding Pavlovic was for nothing: his debut for the German national team was cancelled because he contracted tonsillitis.
However, Pavlovic will probably never play for Serbia. National coach Stojkovic said: „People in Serbia shouldn’t be angry. It’s not right to say that we lost him because he never played for our youth teams.“
He wishes Pavlovic every success for the future: „His decision is what it is. We respect that and wish him all the best. No bad feelings.“
