Leon Goretzka is a player at Bayern Munich who has divided opinions throughout his tenure at the club. His form has been streaky at different times in different seasons, he’s had his injury troubles, and he’s always been competing for a place amongst a star-studded cast of midfielders at the club. Back when both Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich signed contract extensions with Bayern in 2021, the midfield duo was seen as the foundation of the future of the club moving forward on the heels of their “We
Kick Corona” campaign during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ever since that extension, Goretzka’s name has been in the discussion for a potential player to be offloaded every time a transfer window rolls around. He’s had the chance to leave before as there have been fair shares of interested cubs but always chose to stay and fight to turn his fortunes around, admirably so. Nonetheless, he has still been playing an integral role for Bayern this season even though he’s announced he’ll be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Ahead of Bayern’s 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund at the Westfalenstadion on Saturday, Bayern and Germany legend Lothar Matthäus campaigned for Goretzka’s involvement at this summer’s World Cup. His work rate and loyalty are traits that Matthäus feels warrant him to have an assured place in Julian Nagelsmann’s final roster for the United States, Mexico, and Canada. “In my opinion, Leon is a permanent part of the World Cup team or the squad. Leon behaves absolutely great. He has already proven that in the last year and a half, where he was to be sold three times. Where it was suggested to him: You can go, we don’t need you anymore. And Leon fought his way through, that was recognized in the team, recognized by the fans, and that’s his character,” the player turned pundit explained (Bild).
Vincent Kompany has a preference of starting Aleksandar Pavlović alongside Kimmich in midfield for Bayern, and Nagelsmann also has other options in the national team with players like Robert Andrich, Pascal Groß, Angelo Stiller, and the up and coming Assan Ouédraogo, though Goretzka’s prospects are bolstered in the national team setup since Nagelsmann often uses Kimmich at right back. Even with Goretzka mostly getting substitute appearances off the bench for Bayern in the key matches across all competitions, there is certainly room for him in the German setup if remains as committed as he has been.
