It has been revealed that German World Cup winner Mario Gotze came tantalisingly close to joining Arsenal in 2011 in spite of the strong interest shown by Manchester United as well. The 22-year-old, who scored the winning that sealed the World Cup title for his country on Sunday joined Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich from rivals Borussia Dortmund in 2013 for a fee of £31.5 million.
Current United manager of the time Sir Alex Ferguson was keen on the talented youngster and instructed his scouts to keep a close-eye on the player and watch him play in the Bundesliga. However, it was Arsene Wenger who came closest to signing the player for his Arsenal side amid interest of the player shown by the veteran manager, but a move never occurred due to the German’s desire to play for Barcelona, who were also keen on signing the youngster.
Despite rejecting a move to The Emirates, it is believed that the 22-year-old would have preferred a switch to The Gunners instead of Manchester United because the German admired the style of play Arsenal played that was stimulated by Wenger.
Although Gotze craved a move to the Catalan club, the player eventually made a switch to Bayern Munich, where in his first season won another Bundesliga winners medal.
By Ollie Carroll
Twitter: @Ollie_Carroll_
