Gotze open to move abroad despite Dortmund contract talks

Mario Gotze has held discussions with Borussia Dortmund about extending his contract but revealed he is open to a move abroad.

Attacking midfielder Gotze has one year left on his deal at Signal Iduna Park and has reportedly attracted the interest of Arsenal.

The World Cup winner is considering the potential of joining a club outside Germany despite being in talks over a renewal at Dortmund.

“I am now going into my 10th Bundesliga season, so it’s logical foreign countries sometimes play a role in your thoughts,” Gotze told Bild.

“As a footballer, you have the privilege of being able to work in almost every country in the world.

“There have already been one or two conversations with BVB. I have one more year on my contract and I am totally relaxed in every aspect.”

Good game against @LFC pic.twitter.com/PkvPAeK22z

— Mario Götze (@MarioGoetze) July 20, 2019

Dortmund are believed to have spent more than €100million to sign Mats Hummels, Thorgan Hazard, Nico Schulz and Julian Brandt ahead of the 2019-20 season.

However, Gotze warned such expenditure alone will not be enough to overthrow Bayern Munich, who won a seventh straight Bundesliga title last term.

“In the end, what it looks like after the 34th matchday is all that counts. And many new additions do not necessarily mean success,” said Gotze.

“If you have ambitions and big goals, you have to buy quality to get better. Money alone, however, is no guarantee of a title.”

On his reunion with Hummels, he added: “Mats and I have been through a lot of great things together, things we’ll never forget; we’ve won a World Cup together, celebrated Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles.

“But today things are a little different than they were back then. We have a different coach and the team is completely different.”

Bayern’s only major moves in the transfer market have been to bring in Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, but Gotze does not think that means they can be discounted as title favourites.

“They are still Bayern Munich. It should not be forgotten that even without a load of new signings, they have a top squad with whom they won two titles last season,” he said.