Goretzka ready to open contract talks with Bayern Munich

Leon Goretzka has yet to sit down with Bayern Munich for contract talks but would be ready to hold discussions with the club.

The Germany midfielder has been a regular since joining Bayern from Schalke in 2018 and still has around 18 months to run on his existing deal.

He featured 38 times in last season’s treble-winning campaign and has been used on 10 occasions in all competitions already in 2020-21.

No Bayern player has recovered the ball more often than Goretzka in the Bundesliga this term (10.47 per game) and only Javi Martinez has more interceptions (3.03 per game compared to 2.76).

Bayern have struggled to tie down fellow key player David Alaba to a new deal, the messy saga being played out in public in recent weeks, while Thiago Alcantata recently left for Liverpool when he had just a year remaining on his contract.

But Goretzka, who previously spent five seasons with fellow Bundesliga side Schalke, is open to talking over fresh terms.

“So far there have been no discussions held with me,” he said at a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Salzburg.

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“I’m under contract for another year and a half so there is not a lot of pressure.

“But if Brazzo [sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic] or Hansi [Flick] approach me in the next few weeks then I will not refuse to talk to them.”

Goretzka has also started all four of Germany’s Nations League matches this year, playing an hour of last week’s humbling 6-0 loss against Spain.

It was Germany’s heaviest defeat since they lost to Austria in a friendly in 1931 by the same scoreline and has led to questions being asked of long-serving boss Joachim Low.

The German Football Association this week announced it would give Low time before assessing his future and Goretzka can understand the furore surrounding the defeat.

“If you lose a game that high then it is normal in our business to be criticised,” he said. “I didn’t exactly wake up the next morning with a good feeling, either.

“For me personally, it was about processing the loss, taking some time and then switching focus back to challenges at Bayern.”