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Germany name seven Bayern Munich players in 26-man squad for friendlies

Germany head coach Joachim Low has named seven Bayern Munich players and five from the Premier League in his 26-man squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Spain and Brazil, the last two games before the announcement of his preliminary World Cup squad.

Keeper Manuel Neuer remains out injured but Bayern teammates Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Niklas Sule, Thomas Muller, Sebastian Rudy and Sandro Wagner are in.

Premier League stars Ilkay Gundogan, Mesut Ozil, Leroy Sane, Emre Can and Antonio Rudiger are in the selection along with Real Madrid's Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira of Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain duo Julian Draxler and Kevin Trapp and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

"We made the deliberate choice to invite more players," Low said. "It's important that we can fully focus on our work with the players and have conversations with them.

"That's our priority right now. That's why it's even more important they know what is asked of them before we announce our final squad.

"Success and performances are above everything for us, and we want to see and feel that the players are subordinating everything to those goals.

"There are still quite a few players we look at and who still have a chance to convince us in the upcoming weeks."

There are no Borussia Dortmund players in the squad despite expectations, with a muscle problem keeping Marco Reus, who recently returned to action after a long-term knee injury, sidelined.

"It's important that Marco Reus proceeds cautiously as he nears the top level and wins stability," Low said.

"First of all, this means that he remains injury free and wins regular minutes for a longer period of time, finds his rhythm and through that wins trust in himself and confidence."

Goalkeepers: Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona), Kevin Trapp (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Jerome Boateng (Bayern Munich), Matthias Ginter (Borussia Monchengladbach), Jonas Hector (Cologne), Mats Hummels (Bayern Munich), Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin), Antonio Rudiger (Chelsea), Niklas Sule (Bayern Munich)

Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid), Julian Brandt (Bayer Leverkusen), Emre Can (Liverpool), Julian Draxler (Paris Saint-Germain), Leon Goretzka (Schalke), Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Arsenal), Sebastian Rudy (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (Manchester City), Lars Stindl (Borussia Monchengladbach)

Forwards: Timo Werner (Leipzig), Mario Gomez (Stuttgart), Sandro Wagner (Bayern Munich)