Mario Götze (; born 3 June 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or forward for club Eintracht Frankfurt.
He played for Borussia Dortmund between 2009 and 2013, winning the Bundesliga title in 2010–11 and the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2011–12, and was a member of the team which reached the 2013 UEFA Champions League final. In April 2013, a €37 million bid from Bayern Munich triggered a release clause in Götze's contract, making him the second-most expensive German player at the time, behind Mesut Özil. He spent three seasons with the club where he won a further three league titles, two DFB-Pokal trophies and a winners' medal in each of the FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. He then returned to Dortmund in 2016, where he added another DFB-Pokal title and a DFL-Supercup to his name. He joined PSV Eindhoven in 2020, spending two seasons there before joining Eintracht Frankfurt.
Götze was first selected for the Germany national team in 2010, at the age of 18. He was included in the squad for Euro 2012 and, two years later, scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final. He also represented Germany at Euro 2016 and the 2022 World Cup.
Club career Borussia Dortmund Early life
Götze is a product of Dortmund's youth academy, first entering the club as an eight-year-old. He made his Bundesliga debut on 21 November 2009 in a scoreless draw against Mainz 05, coming on as a substitute for Jakub Błaszczykowski in the 88th minute. During the winter break of the 2009–10 Bundesliga season, Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp promoted Götze to the first team. He finished the 2009–10 season with five appearances. Götze took his chance and was an important player in Dortmund's Bundesliga-winning squad of the 2010–11 season. He finished 2010–11 season with eight goals in 41 appearances. In 2010, German Football Association's then technical director Matthias Sammer described Götze as "one of the best talents Germany has ever had."
He played in the 2011 German Super Cup' losing to Schalke 04. In January 2012, Götze was diagnosed with a hip injury; cartilage in Götze's hip had inflamed under stress.
On 27 March 2012, Götze signed a new contract with Borussia Dortmund, keeping him at Dortmund until 2016. His contract, however, contained a release clause from the club, triggered by a fixed transfer fee of at least €37 million. Götze spoke about his contract extension, saying, "Everyone knows how comfortable I feel in Dortmund. The club are far from finished with their recent resurgence. And I want to be part of this development."
In April 2012, Götze made the squad for the first time since his hip injury but was an unused substitute against rivals Schalke 04. He played his first game since his hip injury when he came on as a substitute against Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Götze won the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund in 2012 as Dortmund set a Bundesliga record by earning the most points in a season with 81, a record later broken by Bayern Munich in 2012–13. Götze also won the DFB-Pokal with Dortmund (5–2) against rivals Bayern Munich in 2012. Götze finished the season with seven goals in all competitions.
2012–13 season
Götze kicked off his season by losing the 2012 German Super Cup. On the first day of the 2012–13 season, he came on as a substitute and scored the winner against Werder Bremen in a 2–1 win for Dortmund. On 19 December, he netted a hat-trick, powering Dortmund to a 5–1 defeat of Hannover 96 in the third round of the DFB-Pokal.
Götze provided an assist and netted a goal in Dortmund's 3–0 second leg defeat of Shakhtar Donetsk on 5 March 2013, completing a 5–2 aggregate victory over the Ukrainian champions as Dortmund progressed to the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The result meant that Dortmund had advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years. Götze was ruled out of the final against Bayern Munich at Wembley Stadium, London, as he suffered thigh injury against Real Madrid in the second leg of the semi-final, which his side lost 2–0 but still progressed to the final through an aggregate score of 4–3. His Dortmund side lost the final 2–1 after a late Arjen Robben goal sealed Bayern's victory.
Bayern Munich Signing On 23 April 2013, it was announced that Götze was moving on 1 July 2013 to rivals Bayern Munich after the team had triggered Götze's release clause of €37 million. The transfer made Götze the most expensive German player of all time. Mesut Özil eventually broke the record later in the summer, transferring to Arsenal for €50 million. Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp claimed that the reason behind Götze's transfer to Bayern was the playmaker's wish to play under manager Pep Guardiola, formerly of Barcelona. Klopp admitted his annoyance at the timing of the announcement of Götze's move, as it was barely 36 hours before Dortmund's Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid. Klopp later said that Dortmund had no chance of convincing Götze to stay with Dortmund, as he claimed, "He [Götze] is a Pep Guardiola favourite."
2013–14 season
On 11 August 2013, Götze made his Bayern Munich debut, coming on as a substitute for Mitchell Weiser in the 60th minute. Götze netted two goals to help Bayern get a 4–1 win against Hungarian champions Győri ETO in a friendly match.
He made his league debut for the club in a Bundesliga home match against 1. FC Nürnberg on 24 August, which Bayern won 2–0. On 19 October, Götze came on as a substitute and made two assists to help Bayern from a one-goal deficit to get a 4–1 win against 1. FSV Mainz 05.
On 23 October, Götze scored his first competitive goal for Bayern in a 5–0 Champions League group stage win over Viktoria Plzeň at the Allianz Arena. He also assisted Bastian Schweinsteiger in the game. On 26 October 2013, Götze came on as a substitute for Toni Kroos in the 25th minute and scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern Munich with a header in a 3–2 win against Hertha BSC. On 2 November, he made his return to starting line-up in a 2–1 away win for Bayern against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
On 23 November, Götze came off the bench and scored the first goal of a 3–0 away victory over former club Borussia Dortmund. He did not celebrate the goal out of respect to Dortmund. In the team's next fixture against CSKA Moscow, Götze scored the second goal of 3–1 away win in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage.
On 7 December, Götze helped Bayern by netting a goal in the closing minute, as well as assisting Thomas Müller, in a dominant 7–0 away victory over Werder Bremen. Three days later, on 10 December, he'd score a goal against Manchester City in the UCL group phase, making it 2–0 in the 12th minute. On 17 December, Götze scored a long-range goal in the 47th minute against the AFC champion Guangzhou Evergrande, helping Bayern win 3–0 and advance to 2013 FIFA Club World Cup Final, where he came on as an 80th-minute substitute. Bayern won the match 2–0.
On 24 January 2014, Götze started as a "false 9" and scored his first goal in the second half of the season against Borussia Mönchengladbach, a 2–0 Bayern victory. On 25 March, he scored in a 3–1 win over Hertha BSC as Bayern were confirmed as Bundesliga champions. On 3 May 2014, he scored a brace and assisted two in their 4–1 away win against Hamburger SV. On 17 May, he played the full 120 minute match against former club Borussia Dortmund in 2014 DFB-Pokal Final. Bayern won 2–0 in extra time to win their second major title in the season. Götze's debut season with Bayern has yielded a mixture of success and frustration, scoring 15 goals.
2014–15 season
After helping Germany win the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Götze began the 2014–15 season on 14 August 2014, coming on as substitute in a 2–0 loss against Borussia Dortmund in 2014 DFL-Supercup. On 17 August, he opened his scoring account in their first 2014–15 DFB-Pokal win against SC Preußen Münster. On 22 August, he started and played for 62 minutes in their 2–1 home season opener victory against Wolfsburg. On 23 September, he scored twice in Bayern's 4–0 home win against SC Paderborn.
On 18 October, Götze netted another brace in their 6–0 home win against Werder Bremen. On 28 October, FIFA announced that Götze was included in the 23-man shortlist for 2014 FIFA Ballon d'Or. On 22 November, he scored a stylistic long range goal in their 4–0 win against Hoffenheim, later voted Bundesliga goal of the week. On 14 February 2015, Götze scored his third brace of the season and assisted one in their dominating 8–0 win against Hamburger SV.
On 28 April 2015, Götze was one of four Bayern players to miss in a 2–0 penalty shootout defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the DFB-Pokal semi-final. In May 2015, Franz Beckenbauer criticised Götze for poor performances and lack of determination in playing. After a couple of weeks, Götze's teammate Arjen Robben backed him up for all the negative criticism. "You need to make certain experiences as a player," the Netherlands international said. "How you cope with certain situations also makes you strong as a player. Criticism can be good for your development too. You need to fight through the situation." He finished the season with 15 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions.
2015–16 season On 1 August 2015, he started his season by coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute. On 9 August 2015, Götze scored with a goal in Bayern's 3–1 DFB-Pokal win over FC Nöttingen. In the next four games, he struggled to make a significant impact in the squad. On 16 September, Götze, coming on as a substitute in 79th minute, scored the second goal against Olympiacos in the 2015–16 Champions League as his club earned a 3–0 away win. After the game, Bayern coach Pep Guardiola praised Götze for his performance.
On 22 September 2015, Götze assisted the last goal in Bayern's 5–1 win against Wolfsburg. On 29 September, Götze was a threat throughout the whole game and he scored a goal against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. Bayern earned a 5–0 win. On 4 October, Götze scored and assisted a goal against Borussia Dortmund to help Bayern to a 5–1 victory. He scored six goals in 21 appearances during the 2015–16 season.
Return to Borussia Dortmund
2016–17 season On 21 July 2016, Götze confirmed his return to Dortmund on a four-year contract. He also stated that he regretted his decision to join Bayern Munich three years before. On 11 September 2016, Götze played his official comeback in 1–0 loss against RB Leipzig. Despite the loss, he was praised for his promising return. Three days later, he scored his first goal for Dortmund since his return to his boyhood club, with his previous goal in a competitive game for the club coming in the 6–1 Bundesliga win over Greuther Furth in April 2013. He scored the opener of the historic 6–0 away win against Legia Warszawa in the Champions League group stage.
After a long time of re-adapting to the Dortmund system, Götze managed to find his form when their side faced Bayern Munich on 20 November 2016. Götze assisted the only goal of the game, and earned a 1–0 victory. Almost a month later, he scored his first Bundesliga goal since his return to Dortmund in a 2–2 draw against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. In February 2017, Götze was dropped from the Dortmund team with a mystery illness, identified in media reports as myopathy, a metabolic disease which can cause fatigue and weight gain. The illness was said to explain some of Götze's fitness problems over the previous several seasons with Bayern and on his return to Dortmund. He finished the season with two goals in 16 appearances.
2017–18 season