Effenberg and Völler urge Goretzka to seek transfer
German national team director Rudi Völler also weighed in on the matter during the group discussion on Sport1.
After all of the relevant Bayern actors issued comments on the situation faced by out-of-favor Bayern and German national team midfielder Leon Goretzka Friday, the German footballing elder statesmen got their turn on Germany's famed footballing round table Sunday morning. Two German national team veterans had their say, both urging the 29-year-old to push for a move away from his club.
Thirty-six-times-capped German international Stefan Effenberg himself moved left Bayern after a two-year-stint between 1990 and 1992. In Effenberg's case, the return of Lothar Matthäus forced him out of the FCB's plans. The now experienced German footballing pundit - in his trademark blunt style - noted that Goretzka had no reason to stay.
“You're not nominated for the European Championship, you don't play any part in [Bayern] training camp, and you're not even in the squad against Ulm,” Effenberg said, ‘You have to be sensible enough to say: ’Wait a minute, I don't want to drive to Säbener Straße every day and know that I'm not in the squad'. That makes you bitter.”
Former Bundestrainer Völler - who has extended his commitment as the German national team's executive director through the 2026 World Cup - concurred. Völler stated the obvious. Namely, that Goretzka stood no chance of getting back into the national team until he could find a locale at which playing time was guaranteed.
"It makes sense for him to switch if he has ambitions to get back on the wagon in time for the World Cup," Völler said, "It's his decision about where he feels comfortable, but one must get playing time."