Mario Gozte could be Dortmund’s primary midfield catalyst next season amid speculations linking the German midfielder with a return to the Signal Iduna Park where he began his career as a professional footballer.
Gotze’s impressive showings for Dortmund earned him a move to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2013 for a fee of £30m. However, the German midfielder struggled to get decent game time despite his undeniable qualities since his arrival at the Allianz Arena.
Gotze put his name in the history books and became a hero after scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina. Since then, he’s featured less prominently for the German National team side possibly because he’s not a mainstay in Bayern Munich’s lineup.
Gotze looks poised for an exit from the Bavarian giants as he’s keen on finding first-team football elsewhere.
Recent reports claim that Liverpool and Tottenham also have their sights set on the World Cup winner, but Dortmund appears favourite to secure his signature.
According to Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Dortmund has opened talks with Gotze over a possible return to the Signal Iduna Park. While nothing is certain at this stage, it’s extremely likely that Gotze will be a Dortmund player when the season kicks off.
What sort of impact would Gotze have on Dortmund?
Gotze’s arrival would certainly be greeted with much positivity by the Dortmund fans as they’ll be quite keen on having one of their favourite players return to the Signal Iduna Park.
The German midfielder would be a direct replacement for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who recently completed a switch to Premier League outfit Manchester United.
Mkhitaryan was an integral part of Dortmund’s first-team set-up last season with a phenomenal number of goals and assists to his name hence the question on the lips of the Dortmund fans is definitely “Can Gotze have a similar effect at Dortmund?”
Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel prefers the use of a 4-2-3-1 system. With that in place, Gotze would frequently feature behind Pierre-Emerick Aubumayeng in a number 10 role.
Gotze is far more technically gifted than Mkhitaryan, although his eye for a pass doesn’t match up to that of the Armenian midfielder, and that’s where Henrikh’s absence will be felt the most by Dortmund fans.
Gotze will be more of a goalscoring midfielder at Dortmund rather than a frequent assist maker, although he’s expected to hit double figures regarding his assists tally.
Playing behind a striker such as Aubamayeng who knows how to score goals will certainly help Gotze’s resolve concerning his assist tally as the German international can be sure that Aubamayeng will convert most of the chances delivered to him.
Dortmund’s lineup next season will probably see Aubamayeng spearheading the attack while Gotze plays behind him and Marco Reus takes on a role on the right flank leaving the left wing open for Kagawa to fill.
Julian Weigl and Sebastian Rode seem like the leading contenders for the slots in the middle of the park.
In the likely event that Gotze makes the switch to Dortmund, Der BVB may just have a fighting chance against the ever so dominant Bayern Munich in the race for next season’s Bundesliga title.