The FC Bayern München coach Ottmar Hitzfeld says Christian Lell could be in line for a Germany call-up after handing the right-back a two-year contract extension until 2011.
The 23-year-old returned to Bavaria in 2006 after spending two years at 1. FC Köln and has matured into a key figure this term, appearing in 44 of Bayern's 54 competitive games – a "phenomenal development" according to general manager Uli Hoeness. Hitzfeld added: "I'm not surprised he's played so many games. If he keeps going like this he could be a candidate for the national team." Lell first signed as a schoolboy in 1993 having grown up a few hundred metres away from the club's training ground.