Why Bayern Munich Must Push Through a New Contract for Mario Gotze

As Mario Gotze approaches the final year of his contract at Bayern Munich, there remains plenty of speculation as to where the 23-year-old will play his football next season.

The playmaker, who hasn't exactly set Munich alight in two-and-a-half seasons at the Allianz Arena, has been the subject of rumors in recent weeks, with Bild (h/t the Liverpool Echo's Matt Crosby) reporting that Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp (who introduced Gotze to professional football during their time at Borussia Dortmund) is keen to join forces with his protege once more.

The report claims €50 million (£37.8 million) should be enough to secure Gotze's services, and the player admitted to SportBild (h/t Deutsche Welle) that he'd have to wait and talk to incoming coach Carlo Ancelotti before committing his long-term future to the club.

When asked about the player's comments, sporting director Matthias Sammer attempted to deflect speculation, stating that he and the player would sit down and discuss the player's future before the season's end.

Bayern may be tempted to take a big-money offer, yet despite €50 million reflecting a profit of over 25 per cent more than the €37 million he cost Bayern in 2013, the German giants would be wise to instead try to convince the Germany international to pen a contract extension. Especially if the player has a good second half of the 2015-16 season once he returns from injury.

When the news leaked that Bayern had signed Gotze, the immediate press reaction was that Guardiola would make the then-20-year-old into his next Lionel Messi. So read a headline in Die Welt at the time, and that may well have been used by the Bavarian club as an extra bit of bait to convince the player to leave Dortmund.

He had, according to Bild (h/t Goal), turned down offers from Bayern, among other clubs, just a year prior. The big difference in April 2013 was that Guardiola was set to be the next Bayern coach.

Yet from an early stage in Gotze's career at Bayern, it was clear that the player was not actually valued by Guardiola as he may have thought he would be. 

Bayern president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted to SportBild (h/t ESPN) three months later that Guardiola had wanted Neymar instead, and by summer's end, they had signed Thiago Alcantara to play in a central role that conflicted with Gotze's natural position.

Some players fight hard, others lose faith. Gotze is an example of the latter, it seems. He's been shuffled around as a utility player during his time in Munich, a substitute playing left, right, and as a central striker.

And although his record of scoring and assisting goals isn't exactly bad (a combined 56 in 104 games, according to Transfermarkt), he just hasn't become the central figure and reliable producer he was meant to be.

Last February, Gotze told SportBild (h/t Goal): "You simply cannot compare me to Messi." Some players make such statements to remain humble, but in the German's case, one can't but feel a lack of self-belief; the kind of audacious courage that drives players to better themselves and become all they can. A confident player would aim to be on Messi's level and probably never come close, but at least would make the most of his career. Gotze hasn't.

A few months later, Sky Sport pundit Franz Beckenbauer described Gotze (h/t ESPN) as a "youth player" in terms of his attitude. The player's agent, Volker Struth, was more direct in blaming Guardiola, claiming to Bild (h/t Daily Mail) the trainer "has destroyed Gotze. He feels like the coach doesn't have faith in him."

It would seem to some that Gotze is a lost cause, and perhaps that's why Bayern may be considering selling him. Yet that would be a mistake. He's still just 23 years of age, and therefore has his best years ahead of him. And although his mind isn't in the right place now, the talent and potential is still there.

During his time at Dortmund, where he had the faith of his trainer, Gotze justified the Messi comparisons. At the age of 18, he scored eight goals and gave 16 assists in 41, averaging a direct hand in 0.58 goals per game. At the same age, Messi's stats numbers were eight goals and six assists in 25 games, an average of 0.56 goals scored or assisted per game.

At 19, Gotze's ratio was the same, Messi's crept up to match his at 0.58. At 20, Gotze's ratio was 0.82; Messi's was 0.83. And then Gotze moved to Bayern and things began to turn south.

Raw goal and assist numbers don't tell the whole story of a player, of course, but it's undeniable that Gotze was a very special player in his youth. Although both scored when they first faced off in 2011, the Memmingen native outclassed Neymar as he ran the show for Germany in a 3-2 win against Brazil.

And when Germany needed a winner in the 2014 World Cup final against Messi's Argentina, Joachim Low famously told his substitute: "Show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup." Twenty-five minutes later, Gotze volleyed home the winner, cementing his place in the history books.

Even after a disappointing first season at Bayern, Gotze managed to show pure class when Low gave him his backing. And Ancelotti might do just the same at Bayern. The incoming coach has no loyalty to Thiago, for example, and has operated with central playmakers in the past.

If Bayern don't push for an extension, Gotze could play a decisive role at UEFA Euro 2016 and end the tournament in a position in which he—with just a year left on his contract—could force a move away from a club that at that time may be reconsidering the possibility of selling. Germany still don't have a natural striker, and Gotze—when fit—has regularly filled that role in Low's team.

Even without a good Euro 2016, the fact is that Ancelotti could give Gotze the support he needs to achieve his potential.

The Italian worked wonders with Angel Di Maria, and that was perhaps an even taller task: Following the signing of Gareth Bale, he had to convert an afterthought of a winger to a functional central playmaker. And he did so brilliantly. The task with Gotze is much more straightforward.

Struth may feel that Gotze has been "destroyed," but anyone who has seen the player throughout his career knows that he has the potential to be one of the world's best players. He just needs the right environment, and that could well be forthcoming.

Although not a €50 million player right now, he's worth giving more time. It's rare that a Ballon d'Or candidate could be bought for that kind of money, and that's what Bayern could have if they stick with Gotze.

@Mr_Bundesliga