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Ex-Dortmund striker says 27 y/o forward could join a “club like Everton” this summer

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Michael Rummenigge wrote in a Sportbuzzer column that Mario Gotze could join “clubs like Everton or West Ham United” when he leaves Borussia Dortmund this summer.

The 27-year-old is out of contract in the coming months and doesn’t look likely to be handed an extension after struggling for form, fitness and playing time in three-and-a-half years back at the Westfalenstadion.

Everton have been linked with Napoli’s Hirving Lozano and Torino’s Andrea Belotti, so the German international could be an option. But whether the Toffees are genuinely interested in Gotze remains to be seen, however.

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Rummenigge said: “I’m thinking of clubs of the order of magnitude Everton, West Ham or Italian (mid-table) clubs. In the Bundesliga, he could go with Borussia Mönchengladbach or Bayer Leverkusen. If he went to China, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, it would be clear that it was all about money.”

Rummenigge is a former Bayern Munich (152 league appearances) and Borussia Dortmund (157 league appearances) striker who also represented West Germany (two caps) in the 1980s. The 56-year-old spoke about how Gotze couldn’t live up to the hype after his World Cup-winning goal for Germany, resulting in his career spiralling ever since.

Gotze returned to Dortmund in 2016 and has made 101 appearances in all competitions, scoring 14 goals and making 17 assists. The 27-year-old fell down the pecking order before the Covid-19 pandemic caused the season to be postponed, amassing only 501 minutes of Bundesliga football, so it’s no surprise he could be leaving BVB.

Everton wouldn’t pay to sign an attacking midfielder with only three goals to his name from his last 20 appearances, but if Gotze is available on a free transfer, they may consider a gamble. The German international has won five Bundesliga titles, four German Cups and a World Cup, so he’d bring a lot of pedigree to Goodison Park.

Read Crippy Cooke’s previous article

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Sports journalist who is an avid football fan, enjoys debunking transfer rumours, loves to write pieces about players out in the cold and takes a large amount of pride getting a predicted XI 100% correct.