Mario Gotze has revealed that he has some regret about leaving Borussia Dortmund for Bayern Munich when he did back in 2013.
The attacker completed a high-profile switch to their Bundesliga rivals for a huge £33.5 million transfer fee back seven years ago, as he left Jurgen Klopp to go and join Pep Guardiola at the Allianz Arena instead.
However, it would be safe to say that Gotze did not fulfil the expectations that the Bundesliga giants had when they initially signed him as he was handed back to BVB just three years later.
During his time at Die Roten, the now-28-year old managed to make 114 appearances, scoring 36 goals and providing a further 24 to his team-mates (as per TransferMarkt). Figures that would not have to be considered too bad by any stretch of the imagination when you consider that he managed to score 45 goals and provide a further 61 assists in his 219 appearances for Borussia Dortmund over two spells (TransferMarkt).
Looking back on his time in Munich, the PSV Eindhoven star (for whom he joined on a free transfer) has admitted that he may have made the switch a little too soon in his career, whilst he also believes he should have looked to stay with Klopp for a little longer before joining a manager that incorporated a different approach. As they say, making a big decision such as not keeping up to date with the football live score can be a costly mistake and one that you ultimately pay for at a later date.
‘I wanted to challenge myself, to get to know Pep’s philosophy,’ the German, who now plays for PSV Eindhoven, told Algemeen Dagblad via The Yellow Wall.
‘With Bayern, we reached three Champions League semi-finals and Guardiola taught me to see football from completely different positions on the field.
‘Guardiola just put you literally everywhere in the games. Arjen Robben knows what I’m talking about.
‘In hindsight, I should have stayed longer with Klopp, but it was certainly not a mistake to go to Bayern,’ he added, before saying of the Liverpool manager. ‘I see him as one of the most important people in my life. There is a relationship of trust between us.’
However, the former FIFA World Cup winner has revealed he is more than happy with how his career is going in Holland with PSV and he does have every right to be as it appears he is getting back to his best. Gotze has managed to score four goals and provide three assists in his first 13 matches for the Eredivisie outfit.
‘At PSV, I quickly found back to my old form. I’m happy now, totally happy. I like it here very much,’ he said.
