Mario Gotze has ruled out a January move to Liverpool, but hinted that he’d consider a move in the summer by suggesting that Jurgen Klopp should talk to him if our interest is serious.
Yesterday news broke that Liverpool’s German manager was keen on signing £37m rated Gotze, whose contract expires in 2017, this coming summer – much to the delight of Liverpool fans worldwide.
Due to the excitement surrounding the news, Gotze has been asked multiple questions on it, and he issued another response today.
“I can rule out a move to Liverpool this winter,” Gotze told TZ, reported here by Goal.
“I don’t know where the rumours about Klopp and me are coming from.
“I have not heard anything. You should ask Klopp if he wants me at Liverpool. If he wants me, he should approach me.”
The quotes could be interpreted as an invitation to Klopp to target him, but also as a simple dismissal of the rumours.
While we’d all love Gotze to be genuinely pining after an Anfield switch, his next comments indicate that he’s eager to test himself under Carlo Ancelotti – the man set to replace Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich come the end of the season.
“I have spoken about Ancelotti with Kroos and he only had good things to say. I have had Klopp, [Joachim] Low and Guardiola as my coaches before. There could be worse coaches than those four,” Gotze continued.
“I want to become the face of Bayern and take my responsibility here.”
The attacker has struggled badly with injury this term, and isn’t expected back until February. His talent is extraordinary, but if a future move did prove on the cards, we’d have to consider his fitness record – which is worrying to say the least.
His reputation and pedigree shouldn’t overshadow the fact he’s injury prone, but just the simple fact that we’re now linked to names like Gotze shows an enormous benefit of having Klopp in charge.