Mario Götze

Mario Götze (born 3 June 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Germany national team.

Although his favoured position is that of a playmaker, Götze has also played as a left winger or false nine forward.

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.

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 was first selected for the Germany national football team in 2010, at the age of 18.

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.

He was included in the squad for UEFA Euro 2012 and, two years later, scored the winning goal in the 2014 FIFA World Cup final.

Götze is a product of Dortmund's youth academy, first entering the club as an eight-year-old.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In his final season at Dortmund, Götze formed a formidable partnership with German teammate Marco Reus.

Götze also managed to score 16 goals in all competitions.

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."

He then returned to Dortmund in 2016, where he added another DFB-Pokal title and a DFL-Supercup to his name.