Mario Gotze regrets not joining Liverpool back in 2016
Speaking to Bild (h/t Liverpool Echo), Mario Gotze has opened up about not joining Liverpool back in 2016 and instead moving back to Borussia Dortmund from Bayern Munich.
The 30-year-old reflects on why he took the decision back then and talks about the reasons for not joining the Reds. History could have taken another turn had he sought to move to Anfield.
“Liverpool had finished eighth in their first season with Jürgen and had not qualified for the Champions League.”
“Even in previous years, it wasn’t the club that always played at the top.”
The German world cup hero joined his former club instead and played in front of the Signal Iduna Park once again in a Thomas Tuchel side on the up.
The attacking midfielder had the option of signing for Liverpool and now admits that coming to Merseyside would’ve been better. Of course, hindsight clearly makes it an obvious choice.
“Dortmund had previously played a top season under Thomas Tuchel. BVB was on the up. Jürgen was still building something.”
“In retrospect you have to say: Liverpool would have been better.”
Gotze joined PSV Eindhoven after leaving Dortmund in 2020. After two years in the Eredivisie, the German is now back in the Bundesliga and will play for the current Europa League champion Eintracht Frankfurt.
The player goes back into a familiar league. Gotze has played 230 Bundesliga games, scoring 57 goals and assisting 61 more. The 30-year-old has also played 63 times for his national side, with one of the most memorable moments coming in the final against Argentina in 2014 where he scored the winner in extra time.
After missing out on Gotze, Liverpool went into the market and got Sadio Mane from Southampton. The Senegalese imprinted his mark on the Merseyside club and has now moved to Bayern Munich as a Reds legend.
Liverpool have only gone from strength to strength under Klopp and won their sixth Champions League trophy in the 2018/19 season. The Merseyside club have now featured in three of the last five CL finals. The Anfield side also won their first league trophy in 30 years after winning the Premier League in the 2019/20 season.
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In 2016, Klopp was still building his side and Gotze can be forgiven for rejecting a project still in its initial stages at Anfield. But it’s a testament to the work the German manager and everyone around the club has done to go from being a side rarely challenging to becoming one of the best teams in the world.
