Ahead of the Conference League final with West Ham United, international and ex-Schalker Thilo Kehrer spoke about a possible return to Germany.

International Thilo Kehrer can imagine a return to Germany. “I do think about it from time to time. My family also lives in Germany. I’m 26 now and don’t want to rule it out,” Kehrer told BILD. “I’m in my first season at West Ham right now, but for the future you never know what’s coming.”

With Premier League club West Ham United, Kehrer will contest the Conference League final against AC Florence in Prague this Wednesday (9pm/RTL Nitro). Both clubs can look forward to their first international title in more than 50 years. Florence won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961, West Ham won the title of the competition, which was abolished in 1999, four years later.

For Kehrer personally, the season in England was a new start. In the summer of 2022, he had fallen out of favour at Paris Saint-Germain and was even banned from training.

Four years after his transfer from FC Schalke to France – Königsblau collected a transfer fee of 37 million euros in 2018 – another move was inevitable. For 16 million euros, which Schalke also earned from his training, the defensive player went to the Premier League. At West Ham, he received a contract until 2026 plus a two-year option.

Thilo Kehrer: From the stands to a regular player

In his first season in England, the 26-year-old centre-back did quite well. In the current season, Kehrer has made 37 competitive appearances before the last match. He finished the season in 14th place in the Premier League with West Ham.

The match practice was urgently needed, also with regard to the German national team. Although Kehrer had already become a permanent fixture there under coach Hansi Flick despite his lack of playing time, his transfer secured his participation in the World Cup in Qatar. Kehrer has also been called up to the DFB squad for the upcoming international matches.

The match against Ukraine in Bremen on 12 June will be marked by peace. It will be Germany’s 1000th international match. Poland will play in Warsaw on 16 June and Colombia in Gelsenkirchen four days later.

But that will be it for Kehrer for the time being, playing football on German soil. Kehrer considers a move to the Bundesliga as early as this summer to be “very, very unlikely”.