Former PSV star Rene Van der Gijp has claimed that Mario Gotze ‘would never have played’ if he joined Liverpool back in 2016.
The German was linked with a move to Merseyside a number of seasons ago in order to be reunited with Jurgen Klopp – a manager who he played under when the pair were at Borussia Dortmund, but a move never materialised.
But with Gotze, who is now in the Eredivise with PSV, claiming recently that he should’ve made the switch to Anfield when he left Bayern Munich six years ago, Van der Gijp has dismissed those comments.
“I really thought he had a very good picture of himself,” Van der Gijp, a two-time Eredivisie champion with PSV in the 1980s, told Today Inside (via HITC).
“He thinks: ‘I’m going to play in the Netherlands, I’m only seventy percent fit. And then I’ll make it, against the NECs of this world.’
“But recently I heard that he would have preferred Liverpool. Then I think: ‘God damn it, you would never have played there, man!’
“With Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane? I think: ‘Jesus man, how can you say that (you would have liked to join Liverpool)?’”
Gotze has been seriously plagued with injuries during his career but has won a number of trophies during his time at both Dortmund and Bayern as well as being a part of the Germany squad that won the World Cup in 2014.
Liverpool fans were calling for the club to sign him many years ago but a move never materialised and in the summer of 2016 the Reds signed Sadio Mane and then Mo Salah the following year.
He was a quality player on his day and it’s good to see that he’s back enjoying his football in the Netherlands.
In 2017, Gotze had reportedly been suffering from a metabolic disorder. It was later revelaed that the condition was myopathy, a muscular disorder which affects the fibres in the muscles meaning they don’t function properly.
Despite this, he’s continued his footballing career and in 46 games this term, the 29-year-old has 21 goal contributions (across all competitions).
It’s quite remarkable when you realise that he’s not even in his 30’s yet as it does feel like he’s been around for a serious amount of time.
It would’ve been interesting to see how he would’ve performed in a red shirt if any potential move did go ahead all them years ago, but it wasn’t meant to be.