When Jürgen Klopp stands on the touchline today for the first time as Germany head coach in the Nations League opener against the Netherlands, it is supposed to mark the start of a new, glorious chapter for the DFB team. Excitement across the country is huge, and the hype surrounding the new man on the bench is tangible. But on the other side lurks a figure perfectly suited to smash the debut party to pieces with a wrecking ball: Brian Brobbey.

Of all people, it is that very striker who was pitied and dismissed as a misunderstanding in the Bundesliga five years ago who now heads into this classic clash with Germany in arguably the best form of his career so far with Oranje.

Why should the DFB defense be trembling ahead of the 24-year-old powerhouse? A glance at his last match last weekend against Manchester City is enough. Wearing a Sunderland shirt, Brobbey almost single-handedly tore apart the Sky Blues’ back line in a spectacular 5-3 win. After his hat-trick, the English media were falling over themselves with praise. 'BBC Sport' handed out the rare perfect 10, while 'Sky Sports' calculated that Brobbey personally posted a higher expected-goals figure on this matchday than almost every Premier League team.

One aspect of the match in particular is likely to give Klopp and his coaching staff headaches: Brobbey’s sheer physicality. 'The Athletic' highlighted that the Dutchman at times dominated City defensive leader Rúben Dias at will. Dias may have tried early on to get tough with the striker, “but on two occasions he was simply shoved aside.” For the 'Telegraph', the Dutchman was for long spells simply “almost impossible to stop.” 'The Mirror' also summed it up perfectly, noting that Brobbey’s hat-trick told only half the story: “Time and again he was in the right place and caused City huge problems.”

This force of nature on the pitch has little in common, however, with the Brian Brobbey who played for RB Leipzig in 2021. Back then, the Ajax academy product arrived in the Bundesliga with great expectations but failed completely. After just 14 appearances and a disappointing return of zero goals, he made a hasty return to Amsterdam. A failed experiment? Without question. But Brobbey made use of the detour. At Ajax, he developed into an established professional before Sunderland brought him to the Premier League in 2025, where he flourished alongside Granit Xhaka.

What kind of development the striker has made since then became fully clear at the 2026 World Cup at the latest. In the 5-1 rout of Sweden, the ice-cold powerhouse, filling in for Memphis Depay, scored a brace within 17 minutes and emerged as the match winner.

One reason why things are going much better for the burly forward now is a decisive step in his development: "I've become better at looking around," Brobbey was recently quoted as saying by Dutch daily newspaper 'De Gelderlander'. "I have a better understanding of where my defender is, and that makes things a little easier for me too."

📸 Molly Darlington - 2026 Getty Images