Goetze set to sign for Frankfurt

BERLIN: Mario Goetze, who scored the winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final for Germany, is reportedly set to return to the Bundesliga by signing for Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt.

After two years playing in the Dutch league for PSV Eindhoven, the 30-year-old is set to undergo a medical Tuesday in Frankfurt, according to German media reports. Eintracht are said to be ready to meet the buy-out clause, said to be four million euros ($4.2 million), in Goetze’s contract at Eindhoven, who finished runners-up to Ajax in the Dutch league last season.

Goetze sat out the start of pre-season training with Eindhoven on Monday as the club said the attacking midfielder was busy “finalising a transfer”. It was Goetze’s stunning volley as a replacement against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final which sealed victory for Germany in Brazil.

Goetze burst onto the scene in the 2010/11 season as a fresh-faced teenager whose goals helped Dortmund win the first of back-to-back Bundesliga titles.

However, he quit the German league in 2020 for the Netherlands after an unsuccessful return to Dortmund having failed to nail down a first-team spot at Munich, who he joined in 2013.