The Germany national coach is not surprised that the 20-year-old has decided to join the Bundesliga champions but he finds it strange that the news was leaked this week
Germany boss Joachim Low has admitted that he found the timing of the announcement of Mario Gotze’s imminent move from Borussia Dortmund to Bayern Munich “questionable”.
The summer switch, which will make Gotze the most expensive German player in history, was confirmed on the eve of the first leg of die Schwarzgelben‘s Champions League semi-final tie with Real Madrid, after details of the deal started appearing in the press on Monday night.
In the end, Dortmund were totally unaffected by the news, with Jurgen Klopp’s men romping to a 4-1 win over los Blancos on Tuesday but, in discussing the deal, Low confessed that he found the way in which the story broke suspicious.
“I was not surprised that a player is going to Bayern Munich,” the 53-year-old coach told Sky Sport Germany. “This is a top destination in the league, and I’m glad that Mario will remain in the Bundesliga.
“However, the timing of the announcement surprised me and I think that it was very questionable.”
Gotze also made light of the controversy to turn in yet another impressive performance against Madrid but Low expected nothing less from the 20-year-old.
“Mario was very good [on Wednesday],” he told ZDF. “But then, Mario is very cool on the pitch; he forgets about everything else.”
Gotze, who has been capped 22 times by die Mannschaft, is a product of Dortmund’s youth academy but is now bound for Bavaria after Bayern agreed to meet his €37 million buy-out clause.