‘One of the best players in the world’… Man United should avoid this transfer
Manchester United’s reputation has long been of a club that searches for, and signs, world-class talent. Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo come to mind.
Usually when someone claims to be one of the best players in the world, they’re already established as such in the public eye. So, what about Mario Gotze.
The Bayern Munich midfielder’s agent recently lamented the club’s lack of support for his client, protesting that Gotze is “one of the best players in the world”.
Manchester United have been tipped to make a swap move for Gotze by sending out-of-favour midfielder Angel Di Maria to Germany, so news of the playmaker’s unhappiness at the Allianz Arena lends more credibility to the rumours.
But remember the last player who arrived at Old Trafford hailed as one of the best players in the world? Oh, right: Di Maria, the same man Van Gaal is now looking to hastily dump from his squad.
Simply put, Gotze is a decent player, but nowhere near world-class, and not worth the trouble for Manchester United.
The attacking midfielder averaged 223 minutes per goal across all competitions last season for Bayern, a good showing but still worse than his previous two seasons. His agent’s argument that the club has not supported him is invalid – Gotze started 40 of the 48 games he played, and was surrounded by fellow German talents such as Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Muller.
At age 23, Gotze’s resume is pretty impressive: four German championships, a UEFA Supercup and a World Cup title. However, the youngster’s achievements for both club and country pale in comparison to those of Schweinsteiger and Muller.
The agent protests: But Gotze obviously isn’t going to get any chances overshadowed by those two! He needs his own light to shine in!
In the Bundesliga, Gotze started 28 games— the same as Muller, who had 13 league goals and 14 assists compared to Gotze’s nine league goals and four assists.
In fact, when he was 23, Muller was performing better than Gotze is at the moment, averaging 155 minutes per goal.
So Gotze needs proper support to perform as one of the “world’s best” players – but when he’s placed alongside two of Germany’s best attackers, he feels stifled. What’s the poor lad to do?
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Don’t get me wrong, Gotze certainly has his strengths. His speed makes him a counter attacking threat, he has the ability to shoot with either foot and his passing is definitely improving. However, he still lacks the initiative to take risks and act aggressively on the pitch, often protecting the ball too much instead of dribbling forward.
Manchester United need an attacker who is willing to create chances by any means necessary. They do need a world-class player. But if Mario Gotze was one, we would know it by now.
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