Premier League: Can Mario Gotze Find A New Home in England?

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In the following season, Mario Gotze started failing at meeting the high expectations placed upon him.

Late in the 2015-16 campaign, German great Frank Beckenbauer openly criticized him for “acting like a child.” Mario had also begun to fall out with Guardiola as he struggled with his form and was dropped repeatedly from the line-up. In 2016, Bayern sold him back to Dortmund as a $16.5 million write-off.

Upon his return to BVB, Gotze continued to struggle to make it into the starting line-up. In February 2017, he was diagnosed with metabolic illness, myopathy, which causes weight gain and fatigue. The sickness was deemed as the reason that his fitness dropped at the end of his time in Munich.

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Mario has continued to struggle to find his form over the last three years with his original club. In his previous two full seasons, he made 49 league appearances, scoring nine goals and adding ten assists.

At 26, in what was supposed to be the start of his prime in his career, he was left off the 2018 national team. Despite a resurgence last season under manager Lucien Favre, Gotze has only appeared in 15 league matches this season, starting a measly five. He has notched three goals and has no assists.

His role has also been made obsolete by recent transfers, Thorgan Hazard and Julian Brandt. On May 23rd, what had become a foregone conclusion among fans of Der BVB became official as the club announced that Mario Gotze was not going to sign a new contract “by mutual agreement” and that he would leave at the end of the season.

Once called the “German Messi” and one of the best talents Germany had ever produced, Gotze now faces the crisis and opportunity of finding a new team in the hope of reigniting a stalled career. Could England be his new home? If so, which Premier League clubs could use his attributes?

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