It is no secret that Leon Goretzka has been viewed critically by club and country for some time now. Goretzka’s place with Bayern Munich was under threat back in 2023 and little seems to have changed now despite the new sporting direction, while Germany dropped the experienced midfielder for Euro 2024, the home tournament every German footballer wanted to be there for. Julien Wolff of Welt held an interview with Bayern’s director of sport Max Eberl and, as captured by @iMiaSanMia, brought up how Goretzka “was not nominated for the EUROs and was not always convincing in the FC Bayern shirt last season.”
Eberl had this to say in response: “This brings us to the topic of competitive sports – and in this respect, [European Champions] Spain, for example, showed us at the EUROs that a good mix is extremely important. When it comes to putting together a squad, that doesn’t always mean that the 20 best players are together, but rather the 20 who work best together on the pitch. It was hard for Leon not to be at the Euros. But you have to put up with it. The success of a national team is more important than an individual’s fate. The same goes for the success of a club.”
If one wants to interpret this kindly, Eberl may just be explaining that Goretzka did not fit into the exact requirements of the Germany squad and that it had nothing to do with his quality. However, one can also interpret this as Eberl announcing that the same is true for Bayern. Regardless, this statement does not demonstrate the clear vote of confidence the media was expecting when Eberl first took charge. Perhaps a Goretzka departure is still on the cards this summer…
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