Mario Götze at Sportstudio on 10.08.2013
I thought I'd finally translate it to the non-german fans, because I thought it might be intersting.: Sorry for my English, I'm only German.
Show Master Michael Steinbrecher: Mario, you were sitting in the stands yesterday, tomorrow is you first match with Bayern, a friendly in Hungary. Finally, right? Finally able to play.
Mario Götze: Yeah, it was a long reha, I was very unlucky. We were very careful and I’m just happy to be able to play tomorrow.
SM: For the first time, you are in an interview as Bayern player now. There was a press conference, but please tell me: What were the decisive reasons for your transfer from Dortmund to Munich?
MG: (thinks) Well… Basically, it was the whole package. Mh, I was convinced that I wanted to try something new, I wanted to be at FC Bayern, there were lots of small things that were important to me. Like... the club, the coach … There were lots of things that guided me to taking this step and that’s why I decided to take it.
SM: Did you have personal contact to Guardiola before signing?
MG: I had contact! There was a phone conversation and besides that, I talked to the persons responsible at Bayern.
SM: And was it really a “This season or never” ultimatum?
MG: Noo, no, it wasn’t this extreme. I got contacted and then it was up to me. I thought about it, I talked to my family and my friends, I thought about what would be to best for me, what would make me a better athlete, a better person. And in the end, I decided to go.
SM: Mats Hummels wrote or said in an interview that he couldn’t really understand it. I checked up on Dortmund that you are still in contact with lots of players… (MG nods) … of course with Marco Reus, but also with Kevin Großkreutz, right?
MG: Yeah of course. With these boys I played for a long time, I know them very well. So when I see the players, I know them from the past, of course I try to keep in touch. Also with the German internationals that you meet at the courses. Of course Marco is a good friend of mine, and Kevin also. We have contact every now and then, when there’s time.
SM: The club says that they find you did it very well. You did not send an agent to talk to them but told them yourself. The timing was unlucky, but it wasn’t you to decide when it all finally should come to light. But still, fans expected you to give an interview saying you might stay longer at BVB, they saw you as a homegrown player. Are you able to understand the disappointment or even anger of the Dortmunder?
MG: Of course, I can understand them on one side. I played lots of years with Dortmund and then went to Bayern, I can understand that many people don’t like to see this happen, I can totally understand it. But you also have to understand that I wanted to improve as a player, that I wanted to improve as a person, as an athlete. You could try putting yourself in my place, but I totally understand that they reacted like this even though, sometimes they crossed a line.
MG: Well… I don’t really have to name them, I think. There was stuff on the internet and out of it, too.
