Tuchel urges patience on Gotze deal

Thomas Tuchel maintains Bayern Munich forward Mario Gotze is not on the verge of a return to Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed earlier on Saturday that talks are ongoing between the two Bundesliga giants to bring Gotze’s frustrating spell in Bavaria to an end.

But speaking after a 1-0 friendly loss at 1860 Munich, Tuchel dismissed the notion that an agreement to bring the 24-year-old Germany international back to Signal Iduna Park was imminent.

“I do not think [Mario Götze] will be there when we land [in Dortmund],” he said.

“It would be a big surprise. I think he is on vacation. For everything else you have to wait.”

Dortmund have also been linked with a move for Gotze’s Germany colleague Andre Schurrle but Tuchel again used the downtime being enjoyed by members of Joachim Low’s Euro 2016 squad as an evading tactic.

“When my sources are right, Andre is on vacation with Mario Gotze,” he added. “They deserved this. But I will not comment on this.”

Defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos watched newcomers Sebastian Rode, Mikel Merino and Ousmane Dembele experience mixed fortunes against 1860.

Sokratis believes a squad shorn of key men Mats Hummels, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ilkay Gundogan will need time to adapt over the course of the pre-season period.

“They are good players but they are new players, they have to learn and we need to help them,” he said. “But, they are good players.

“We have six or seven players who are experienced and we have to help them.”