BillyShears said:
Manc in London said:
Very Raggish. Very Bayern. I am generally indifferent about clubs on the continent but I genuinely dislike Bayern.
I hope Dortmund and Bayern get through to the final, with Dortmund scoring the a controversial winning goal in injury time. Seeing them choke would give me great satisfaction.
I agree about Bayern. Saddens me that Dortmund don't have the power to tell Gotze there's no way in hell they'll sell to Bayern. With Lewandowski almost nailed on to follow come the end of the season I just don't see what Dortmund's game is. Selling your best players out of the league to raise the revenue to rebuild the squad I get. Selling your best players to your nearest rival so they're stronger and you're weaker is just insanity.
The real shame will be if this announcement has a negative effect upon their performance against Madrid. I certainly think it'll be incredibly problematic for Klopp to pick Gotze to play. If I were in his shoes I'd be having my agent sounding out Madrid/Chelsea/City because Dortmund will be taking an enormous step backwards this summer. His reputation is at hit's peak right now.
The thing is, Billy, if Dortmund really wanted to keep hold of Goetze, I believe they could have done. I know Bayern's wage structure far surpasses Dortmund's but at the end of the day, Dortmund aren't skint. They will have earned a tidy amount from this CL campaign and when it comes to giving players an improved contract, it's not as though this was someone they bought a few years back, this is someone who they have nurtured through the years. If they really wanted to keep him, not just for the sake of keeping him out of Munich's grasp, but for their own reasons, then they could and should have broke the bank to do so.
Yes, they've got a very nice figure out of it and, if they sell Lewandowski too, they'd have about £50m coming in. We know Klopp can build a team from a tuppence, the question is now whether he can spend a decent amount of money wisely. If he does stay on (which I believe he will) then this will be another chance to show the Footballing world just what Jurgen Klopp is made of. Dortmund don't need an individual here and there, they need depth to their squad. If they can bag someone like Draxler and a few other young, promising players and someone with experience like Dzeko, I believe they will be better for it and more equipped to challenge on multiple fronts, which is something they haven't been able to as of yet under Klopp.