Mario Gotze reveals why he left Borussia Dortmund for Bayern Munich in 2013

Mario Gotze was recently interviewed in Algemeed Dagblad where he spoke about Jurgen Klopp and his move from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern.

Mario Gotze was one of the most promising youngsters to come out of the Borussia Dortmund academy when he broke onto the scene. Making his professional debut at 17 with Dortmund, Gotze was on a path to stardom as one of the focal points of a young, attacking team. In his first few seasons with Dortmund he won the Bundesliga twice, the DFB Pokal once and reached the Champions League Final, quite the list of accomplishments for the then 21 year old, before everything changed.

It was right before Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League Semi-final game against Real Madrid that the shocking news broke. Fresh off signing a contract extension with Dortmund, Mario Gotze agreed to join bitter rivals Bayern Munich after they paid his release clause of 37 million euros. It was a devastating blow to Dortmund and their fans, especially in the middle of a magical Champions League campaign. In the end the allure of playing for Pep Guardiola and Bayern Munich in the coming season was too good of an opportunity for Gotze to pass up.

"“I wanted to challenge myself, to get to know Pep’s philosophy. 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 anywhere on the pitch” – Mario Gotze told Algemeen Dagblad."

Mario Gotze never quite hit the heights that were expected of him at Bayern Munich as he plateaued and eventually made his way back to Dortmund. He doesn’t regret the move to Bayern, but regrets not staying longer with Jurgen Klopp, someone who he views as one of the most important people in his life, even still.

"“In hindsight, I should have stayed longer with Kloppo, but it was certainly not a mistake to go to Bayern. I see him as one of the most important people in my life. There is a relationship of trust between us” – Mario Gotze"

Gotze’s move was incredibly controversial and damaging for the club. It’s easy to imagine what Borussia Dortmund could have done with another season or two of Gotze in the squad with that 2012/13 Dortmund team on the rise. Dortmund had sold big names in the past, Shinji Kagawa, Nuri Sahin, but Mario Gotze leaving for Bayern Munich was the first step in the flurry of big names moving out in coming years. Robert Lewandowski and Mats Hummels would follow him to Bayern, tripling the blow to Dortmund and the fans.

Mario Gotze is currently playing for PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie and has had a good start to the season. In 8 league games, Gotze has 3 goals and 2 assists and he is back to playing meaningful minutes.