Liverpool Or Borussia Dortmund: Why Mario Gotze Must Quit Bavaria Bayern Munich.

"At Barcelona Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi are building a triangle , but as a classic duo there is nobody better than the prolific Reus and Gotze", Bayern Munich Legend and World Cup winning coach Franz Beckenbauer said in December 2012. Little wonder it took just four months for Bayern to trigger the £31.5m release clause of Mario Gotze (then record breaking fee for a German), taking him to the Allianz Arena in the summer in a move then Jurgen Klopp described as a " Heart Attack". 

At Dortmund, Mario was a playmaker and played just behind the striker (Robert Lewandowski) , wrecking havoc in the opposition defence . Such was his form that he was described as one of the greatest German players that ever played the game by Bayern Munich's Sporting Director, Mattias Sammer . 

Fast forward to 2016 and it seems the union of Mario and Bayern was an unholy marriage. Mario has struggled for form and fitness and is yet to establish himself as an integral part of the Bayern team under Guardiola unlike the likes of Thomas Mueller and Arjen Robben. It is a known secret that Guardiola might not have full confidence in the  youngster, as he has not given him a consistent run of games since his (Mario) arrival. Stats available show that in three seasons since his 2013 summer move to Bayern, Mario has made just  67 appearances for Bayern . This season, he has only played 12 games, starting only five . To make it worse , Mario has played only a game out of a possible 10 since the mid-season break (since the new year), as he struggles with a hamstring injury, fitness and loss of form. To buttress further, Pep Guardiola rarely plays him in the "Very Big" games as Mario saw just 36 minutes of action against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final in 2014, even though Bayern were soundly beaten 5-0 in aggregate by Carlo Ancelotti's Real Madrid. This did not change last season as Mario saw only 14 minutes of action in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona as Guardiola and his Bavarian team were beaten by his former side (3-5 aggregate score-line). This season it got worse, as Mario sat on the bench all through the two legs of the round of 16 games with Juventus. Bayern Munich also appear to have accepted Mario does not feature in their future plans as his contract only has 18 months to run with no talks over an extension yet.

On Tuesday after the friendly game with Italy where he had a "Five Star" all round performance , Mario confirmed rumours that he did not feel the confidence of Pep Guardiola saying "It's just great to feel that my coach (Joachim Loew) trusts me".  Having spent three years in Bayern Munich winning the Bundesliga three consecutive times in style, it is time for Mario Gotze to leave Bavaria and either move to hometown team Borussia Dortmund or Liverpool and reunite with Jurgen Klopp, who promoted him to the BVD's first team in 2009. 

At BVD, Mario will have the opportunity to reunite with Marco Reus and will once again become the star of the team , playing behind goal wizard Pierre Aubameyang who is the fastest player in the Bundesliga and second highest goalscorer in the league with 22 league goals in 25 games this season. Mario will be the missing jigsaw in the Dortmund team and will star in-behind Aubameyang, while the likes of Marco Reus and Henrikh Mkhitaryan play on the wings , allowing Julian Weigl and Ilkar Gundogan (as he is rumoured to leave next season) or Lars Bender protect the back four in coach Thomas Tunchel's 4-2-3-1 favoured  formation . Mario would easily play in this BVD team which is less direct than the previous team under Klopp, as Tuchel favours positional play focusing on generating numerical superiority and making proper connections among attackers, and retaining and circulation the ball perfectly .

In Liverpool , Mario will also have the opportunity to reunite with the man who made him the star he is today (Jurgen Klopp). Also Mario won't need much time adjusting to the philosophies of Klopp as his quick direct pressing and counterattacking football are the attributes of Mario Gotze. With the likes of Roberto Firminio and Philippe Countinho playing in the right and left side of attack , allowing Gotze his playmaking role and just in-behind a potent striker, while the likes of Emre Can and Jordan Henderson protect the back four. Although Liverpool will need to sign a quality striker who can guarantee more than 15 goals a season and who can play the Jurgen Klopp way, as £32m signing from Aston  Villa (Christian Benteke) has flattered to deceive all season. 

Mario Gotze will be spoilt with choice having to choose between Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund in the summer,  but whatever happens, quitting Bayern Munich will do his shinning career a good as his fans still remember him as the little one who came in at extra-time to score the World Cup winning goal for Germany against Argentina in 2014 (Brazil) .