Mario Gotze will return to Borussia Dortmund after three difficult seasons at Bayern Munich.
After enduring a nasty breakup, Mario Gotze will return to his childhood club. Despite being a Bavaria native, Gotze entered the Borussia Dortmund academy at the age of 8, and became a world-class midfielder under Jurgen Klopp. But once Pep Guardiola had arrived in the Bundesliga, Bayern Munich snatched him away and he was cast as a traitor among the Dortmund faithful.
As it turned out, though, he and Guardiola didn’t get along very well, and last season he only scored six goals while starting 11 games. His minutes weren’t going to increase under Carlo Ancelotti, and his leaving became a matter of when rather than if. As it turns out, the only team he wanted to go to was back where it all began.
Borussia Dortmund verpflichtet @MarioGoetze. Mehr Infos folgen. pic.twitter.com/Xs84TClWi6
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) July 21, 2016
Even when Gotze scored the winning goal for Germany at the World Cup, Dortmund fans still didn’t stop hating him. But now that he’s back, he’s determined to win over the fans’ trust with great performances. Not long after the transfer was made official, Gotze revealed that, looking back, he wouldn’t have made the same decision.
Mario Götze's full statement on his return to Borussia Dortmund. pic.twitter.com/cZIyLR3EOU
— Alex Chaffer (@AlexChaffer) July 21, 2016
Bayern Munich don’t usually let their players go to Dortmund; it’s usually the other way around. But perhaps they felt comfortable with doing this after they had already taken Mats Hummels from their rivals earlier this summer. Either way, this rivalry won’t have any shortage of compelling storylines next season.
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