Mario Gotze has revealed his regret over leaving Borussia Dortmund for Bayern Munich, admitting that he should have stuck with Jurgen Klopp for longer instead of switching to Pep Guardiola.
The midfielder made the high-profile switch to Dortmund's arch rivals in a £33.5m move in 2013, leaving behind the current Liverpool boss to play for the all-conquering Germans.
However, the now-28-year-old did not manage to fulfil the expectations cast upon him as a youngster, and was sent back to his former club three years later.
And the World Cup winner has conceded that, in hindsight, he made the switch to soon, and ought to have stayed with the charismatic coach a while longer before making a big move away.
'I wanted to challenge myself, to get to know Pep's philosophy,' the German, who now plays for PSV Eindhoven, told Algemeen Dagblad via The Yellow Wall.
'With Bayern, we reached three Champions League semifinals and Guardiola taught me to see football from completely different positions on the field.
'Guardiola just put you literally everywhere in the games. Arjen Robben knows what I'm talking about.
'In hindsight, I should have stayed longer with Klopp, but it was certainly not a mistake to go to Bayern,' he added, before saying of the Liverpool manager. 'I see him as one of the most important people in my life. There is a relationship of trust between us.'
Gotze made 114 appearances for Bayern during his spell at the club, scoring 36 goals and providing 24 assists. He has scored four and laid on three assists since arriving in Holland this summer.
'At PSV, I quickly found back to my old form. I'm happy now, totally happy. I like it here very much,' he said.
ChelseaFCaddict
786
Wasted talent how sad. Mario regrets leaving Klopp , Coutihno regrets leaving Klopp ,David wagner regrets leaving Klopp it seems Klopp is not only a great manager but also a great human . Liverpool are lucky to have Juken Klopp as their manager they're even mo lucky than Manchester city.
FaithEvans
674
If someone told me after that 2013 season and how that Borussia Dortmund team played in the Champions League, that Mario Gotze wouldn't achieve even half of his potential or be in the German team in 7yrs... I'd have said you're out of your mind. What a team Jurgen Klopp built, I still reminisce the old team of Roman Weidenfeller, Piszceck, Schmelzer, Subotic, Hummels, Nuri Sahin, Shinji Kagawa, Jacob Blaszckowsky, Mario Gotze, Marco Reus and Robert Lewandowski... and oh I remember a certain Lucas Barrios too, that's as far as memory allows me, Klopp is a legend, his human and emotional elements surpasses any tactics that anyone has ever seen.
Emchi
462
Not all footballer whether upcoming or established footballer is ment for every good Coach or for the best club or the best team. Be somewhere you can challenge the best team to be the best among the best. A food for thought to everyone including me.
patapata
390
Klopp is indeed the BEST manager! He has a good human side that takes care of his players emotions and welfare, which gives them the urge to meet his tactical expectations! Liverpool is blessed to have him!
Tuuiklpruy
235
we shall hope of this lineup
JosephMbuvi
150
Pele has a smile on his face after his record stands unrevorded because they did not count Pele's friendly goals and counted Messi's friendly goals
viuabcdlmt
12
Wasted talent how sad. Mario regrets leaving Klopp , Coutihno regrets leaving Klopp ,David wagner regrets leaving Klopp it seems Klopp is not only a great manager but also a great human . Liverpool are lucky to have Juken Klopp as their manager they're even mo lucky than Manchester city.
even emre can regrets leaving klopp
rokeklnou
11
Wasted talent how sad. Mario regrets leaving Klopp , Coutihno regrets leaving Klopp ,David wagner regrets leaving Klopp it seems Klopp is not only a great manager but also a great human . Liverpool are lucky to have Juken Klopp as their manager they're even mo lucky than Manchester city.
that's true, liverpool is lucky to have Klopp compare to Man City. Pep came in Man City already built with Manchini and pelegrini and all the money was there to support him. if City they are lucky to have Pep, so tell me which trophy did Pep won that wasn't won by this 2 managers that I mentioned here.