Latest Transfer news
(Video); Watch Mario Gotze makes regretful Liverpool transfer admission after snubbing Jurgen Klopp
(Video); Watch Mario Gotze makes regretful Liverpool transfer admission after snubbing Jurgen Klopp
In 2016, Mario Gotze declined the chance to join Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool revolution after his time at Bayern Munich came to an end as a result of his World Cup heroics.
Mario Gotze has once more admitted publicly that he regrets not seizing the chance to reconnect with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
The German World Cup champion from 2014 had the chance to join the Reds in the summer of 2016 after falling short of expectations after a contentious £31 million deal to Bayern Munich three years earlier.
Gotze, who recently signed for Eintracht Frankfurt and was briefly the most expensive German footballer in history, rose to prominence with rivals Borussia Dortmund as a teenage sensation and excelled under coach Jurgen Klopp, who gave him his debut at the age of 17 and quickly established him as a mainstay of his team.
The newly appointed Liverpool manager gave the “German Messi” a way out of the Bundesliga and into his Anfield revolution as his career stalled in Bavaria and Bayern was seeking to cash in.
But Gotze, who scored the game-winning goal against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final, chose to return to Dortmund, where Thomas Tuchel was trying to follow in Jurgen Klopp’s footsteps.
“Liverpool had finished eighth in their first season with Jurgen and had not qualified for the Champions League,” the 30-year-old told German outlet Bild.
“Even in previous years, it wasn’t the club that always played at the top. Dortmund had previously played a top season under Thomas Tuchel. BVB [Dortmund] was on the up.
“Jurgen was still building something. In retrospect, you have to say Liverpool would have been better.”
Before Leicester and PSV Eindhoven’s Europa League quarterfinal match, Gotze originally shared the story three months ago.
“I wasn’t in a state of mind where I could consider it, that’s why it didn’t happen,” the 2011 Golden Boy winner admitted.
“Do I regret it? It’s always difficult to look back but if you ask me now, then yeah, I should have joined Liverpool for sure. I just made a wrong decision but it’s not a regret.”
Unfortunately, Gotze’s decision to join the Black and Yellows once more ended in failure.
The midfielder had a promising beginning to life back at Signal Iduna Park, but he soon developed myopathy, a metabolic ailment that can lead to exhaustion and weight gain, which forced him to miss the final four months of the 2016–17 season and slowed his development into his mid–20s.
Gotze, though, is now glistening once again as a result of a PSV revival spell. The playmaker made 77 appearances last season and helped the Dutch giants defeat Ajax to win the KNVB Cup.
The playmaker has thrived in a creative role under compatriot Roger Schmidt for the past two seasons.
European League champions Despite attention from MLS team Inter Miami and Portuguese powerhouses Benfica, Frankfurt came calling this summer by triggering Gotze’s cheap £3.4 million release clause, and Gotze decided the time was perfect to return to his native country.
“A lot of factors played a role in the transfer,” he explained to the Bundesliga’s official website after signing a three-year deal.
“The club, the passionate fans, Deutsche Bank Park, the Bundesliga and the talks with the people in charge, Markus Kresche and [manager] Oliver Glasner.
“The development over the past few years says a lot about the top-class character”
In other news, WATCH: “Really surprised” – The Real reason Jurgen Klopp decided to sign £85m Liverpool star