With the German playmaker set to move to the Allianz Arena in the summer, Goal.com weighs up Pep Guardiola's options for his deployment in his new side
Two announcements rocked the world of football in 2013. The first was the confirmation that Pep Guardiola would take over the reins at Bayern Munich - the former Barcelona coach turning down interest from England to make the move to the Bundesliga.
The second was the shock transfer of Mario Gotze, long touted as the 'German Lionel Messi', who will follow the Spaniard to Sabener Strasse in the summer from Borussia Dortmund.
BVB boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed that the Nationalelf star is making the move to the Allianz Arena to work with Guardiola, prompting a wave of speculation as to how the 42-year-old will use the young attacker.
And here, Goal.com explores Gotze's possible roles at the Allianz Arena.
The most famous feature of Guardiola's reign at Barcelona was Messi's switch from the right wing to a central position.
Strikers fell out of favour during his time at Camp Nou, with Samuel Eto'o leaving after one year, Zlatan Ibrahimovic enduring an infamous spell in Catalunya and Thierry Herny being dropped in favour of the young Pedro after one season under Pep.
The comparisons between Messi and Gotze have been flying around for a few years and the German has played in a similar role to the Argentine before, for both BVB and for his country in a game against Kazakhstan.
Were this indeed Guardiola's plan, Mario Gomez's transfer away from the Allianz Arena will be all but sealed, with Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro providing able back-up and a Plan B to Gotze.
Likelihood rating:
Of course, Spain and Germany possess very different leagues. Strikers in the Bundesliga have always been the type who can hold up the ball and play through the middle.
Guardiola is canny enough to realise that reinventing the wheel during his time at Bayern is not guaranteed to succeed and may well seek to retain Mario Mandzukic in his first-choice XI.
In truth, it would be harsh to drop the Croatian, who has stunned everyone since making the move to Bayern from Wolfsburg last summer, currently leading their scoring charts with 21 goals in all competitions.
While Toni Kroos has enjoyed something of a watershed season, the Germany international fell away in the second half of the campaign before succumbing to injury at the beginning of April.
If Pep deems the prodigious playmaker to be unready for the top level, Gotze would represent a fantastic replacement for his international team-mate, given his Bundesliga pedigree.
Likelihood rating:
While Gotze's finest performances for Borussia Dortmund have come in the centre of the triumvirate behind Robert Lewandowski, it is worth remembering that he made his name on the wing.
With a brilliant turn of pace, great dribbling and trickery, the Memmingen-native is seemingly a ready-made wide man, and with Franck Ribery now the wrong side of 30, the Bavarians could well be seeking to replace the Frenchman.
Gotze's proficiency on the left was plain for all to see when he cut inside and sent in an inch-perfect ball to set up Lewandowski's first goal in BVB's 4-1 over Real Madrid last week.
Meanwhile, left-back David Alaba's attacking instincts would see the Austrian push up the wing and allow Gotze to slot inside into his preferred position. Together with Kroos and Thomas Muller, Gotze would form part of a wonderfully fluid three-pronged attacking midfield, with each player capable of scoring goals of all varieties.
Of course, Ribery has been enjoying a wonderful season of his own and any decision to replace him would be a tough one for Pep.
Likelihood rating:
While Thomas Muller has enjoyed the finest season of his career to date in 2012-13, scoring 20 goals and setting up countless others, it is fair to say that he is not the classic Guardiola player.
His workrate, passion and fearlessness make him classically Teutonic and his deployment in the team would be a departure from the type of player he favoured at Barcelona - one with more panache and unpredictability.
Gotze's ability on the right-hand side of midfield served Dortmund well until the departure of Shinji Kagawa forced Jurgen Klopp to shift him inside, and given his familiarity with Philipp Lahm, Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger from the national team, Guardiola may want to use him in his old role.
Muller, meanwhile, is under contract until 2017 and has been vocal in his desire to make himself into a Bayern legend and his versatility and talent would make him an incredible asset off the bench.
REMINDER :
Two announcements rocked the world of football in 2013. The first was the confirmation that Pep Guardiola would take over the reins at Bayern Munich - the former Barcelona coach turning down interest from England to make the move to the Bundesliga.
The second was the shock transfer of Mario Gotze, long touted as the 'German Lionel Messi', who will follow the Spaniard to Sabener Strasse in the summer from Borussia Dortmund.
BVB boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed that the Nationalelf star is making the move to the Allianz Arena to work with Guardiola, prompting a wave of speculation as to how the 42-year-old will use the young attacker.
And here, Goal.com explores Gotze's possible roles at the Allianz Arena.
| AS A FALSE NO.9 |
| HOW THE TEAM WOULD LOOK |
| (4-2-3-1/4-3-3) Neuer Lahm, Dante, Badstuber, Alaba Martinez, Schweinsteiger Muller, Kroos, Ribery Gotze |
Strikers fell out of favour during his time at Camp Nou, with Samuel Eto'o leaving after one year, Zlatan Ibrahimovic enduring an infamous spell in Catalunya and Thierry Herny being dropped in favour of the young Pedro after one season under Pep.
The comparisons between Messi and Gotze have been flying around for a few years and the German has played in a similar role to the Argentine before, for both BVB and for his country in a game against Kazakhstan.
Were this indeed Guardiola's plan, Mario Gomez's transfer away from the Allianz Arena will be all but sealed, with Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro providing able back-up and a Plan B to Gotze.
Likelihood rating:
| REPLACING KROOS |
| HOW THE TEAM WOULD LOOK |
| (4-2-3-1) Neuer Lahm, Dante, Badstuber, Alaba Martinez, Schweinsteiger Muller, Gotze, Ribery Mandzukic |
Guardiola is canny enough to realise that reinventing the wheel during his time at Bayern is not guaranteed to succeed and may well seek to retain Mario Mandzukic in his first-choice XI.
In truth, it would be harsh to drop the Croatian, who has stunned everyone since making the move to Bayern from Wolfsburg last summer, currently leading their scoring charts with 21 goals in all competitions.
While Toni Kroos has enjoyed something of a watershed season, the Germany international fell away in the second half of the campaign before succumbing to injury at the beginning of April.
If Pep deems the prodigious playmaker to be unready for the top level, Gotze would represent a fantastic replacement for his international team-mate, given his Bundesliga pedigree.
Likelihood rating:
| AS RIBERY'S SUCCESSOR |
| HOW THE TEAM WOULD LOOK |
| (4-2-3-1/4-3-3) Neuer Lahm, Dante, Badstuber, Alaba Martinez, Schweinsteiger Muller, Kroos, Gotze Mandzukic |
With a brilliant turn of pace, great dribbling and trickery, the Memmingen-native is seemingly a ready-made wide man, and with Franck Ribery now the wrong side of 30, the Bavarians could well be seeking to replace the Frenchman.
Gotze's proficiency on the left was plain for all to see when he cut inside and sent in an inch-perfect ball to set up Lewandowski's first goal in BVB's 4-1 over Real Madrid last week.
Meanwhile, left-back David Alaba's attacking instincts would see the Austrian push up the wing and allow Gotze to slot inside into his preferred position. Together with Kroos and Thomas Muller, Gotze would form part of a wonderfully fluid three-pronged attacking midfield, with each player capable of scoring goals of all varieties.
Of course, Ribery has been enjoying a wonderful season of his own and any decision to replace him would be a tough one for Pep.
Likelihood rating:
| DOWN THE RIGHT |
| HOW THE TEAM WOULD LOOK |
| (4-2-3-1/4-3-3) Neuer Lahm, Dante, Badstuber, Alaba Martinez, Schweinsteiger Gotze, Kroos, Ribery Mandzukic |
His workrate, passion and fearlessness make him classically Teutonic and his deployment in the team would be a departure from the type of player he favoured at Barcelona - one with more panache and unpredictability.
Gotze's ability on the right-hand side of midfield served Dortmund well until the departure of Shinji Kagawa forced Jurgen Klopp to shift him inside, and given his familiarity with Philipp Lahm, Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger from the national team, Guardiola may want to use him in his old role.
Muller, meanwhile, is under contract until 2017 and has been vocal in his desire to make himself into a Bayern legend and his versatility and talent would make him an incredible asset off the bench.
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