Dortmund – On Twitter, Mario Gotze still has more followers than his club, but in sporting terms, it has lost more and more importance. The days of the 2014 World Cup hero at Borussia Dortmund seem to be numbered.
In the Bundesliga top game between the table runners-up and his former club FC Bayern, which would have taken place on Saturday without the corona crisis and possibly would have resulted in a preliminary decision in the title fight, the noble reserve would only have appeared as a supporting actor – as so often in the past few months.
Gotze’s search for a new club is considered tricky and is made even more difficult by the current uncertainty on the transfer market. It seems hard to imagine for the professional world that the 27-year-old is still on the wish list of well-known clubs. «I assume that the top clubs are not waiting for Mario Gotze. I think he has to bake little rolls – both from the club and from the salary, »commented the 1990 world champion and today’s TV expert Lothar Mattaus in a Sky podcast.
Similar to Matthaus, Michael Rummenigge also sees the future of Gotze, who is expecting the first child together with his wife Ann-Kathrin, rather at clubs of category B: I think of clubs of the order of magnitude Everton, West Ham or Italian middle class. Societies. In the Bundesliga he could go with Borussia Monchengladbach or Leverkusen, »wrote the former Munich and Dortmund professional in a column for the« Sportbuzzer ».
Very few believe that Gotze will remain with BVB beyond the end of the contract this summer. After all, coach Lucien Favre has used the noble technician even less often this season than in the past season. In addition, negotiations with BVB to extend the cooperation have been unsuccessful for months. The problem: Gotze is higher on the salary list than it reflects its sporting importance for the team. However, he reportedly does not want to accept a significant drop in salary planned by the top management.
His level as a top earner could be one reason why the interest in Gotze seems to be limited, even though he would be free of charge. Media reports that league competitor Leverkusen is considering an obligation were immediately denied by Bayer Sports Director Simon Rolfes: «Mario Gotze is a good player. But it is not an issue for us. »
Hertha managing director Michael Preetz had previously confirmed that former Berlin coach Jurgen Klinsmann had tried to change Gotze during his eleven-week term of office: «But I didn’t get any feedback. I think it was with Mario Gotze that he simply couldn’t get him on the phone. »
According to Matthaus, a change of club could have a positive impact on Gotze’s performance: «I wish him to come back again. But for that, he needs trust from a club, trust from a coach and trust in himself. If he can do that, he can attack again. »
Michael Rummenigge recommended Gotze to try “more as a director” again because of the lost speed and to think less about money. “It could be due to financial oversaturation. You might not be ready to torture yourself anymore, »Rummenigge guessed. “Mario must now understand that it is up to him to save his career and bring it to a conciliatory end.”
The brother of Bayern boss Karl-Heinz Rummenigge also gave Gotze the tip to “leave all this crap on social networks” and concentrate solely on the sport: “When I sometimes see him on Instagram, I wonder whether that’s still a soccer player or more of a show talent. »
