MARIO GOTZE has revealed he snubbed a move to Liverpool after writing off their Champions League chances.
The German midfielder, 28, played under Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund where they won Bundesliga titles together in 2011 and 2012.
Gotze then sealed a shock move to closest rivals Bayern Munich in 2013.
But his time in Bavaria was blighted by injury and, despite adding a further three titles to his collection Gotze returned to Dortmund in 2016.
However, the World Cup winner has now revealed he could have instead moved to Anfield for a reunion with old boss Klopp.
Indeed, the pair even met to discuss a stunning Premier League transfer.
But Gotze, who scored the only goal in the 2014 World Cup final, ended up opting for a return to Dortmund as he believed they offered him a greater chance of success in the Champions League.
Gotze told 11 Freunde: “You have to imagine it like this: Where did I come from?
“From Munich, where I had reached the semis in the Champions League three times with Bayern. I wanted to do that again.
“Liverpool finished eighth in the league. In the situation at the time, the likelihood of winning the Champions League with Borussia seemed much greater.”
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Ironically, Liverpool went on to win Europe’s biggest prize in 2019.
And they followed that up with a historic title win last season.
Meanwhile, Gotze’s fitness problems continued at Dortmund.
And last summer he joined Dutch outfit PSV Eindhoven on a free transfer.
Gotze has since scored six goals in 20 games for the Eredivisie side, who are second in the table and 12 points off Ajax.
He will have just one year left on his contract this summer and it remains to be seen if he is on the move once again.
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
