In the weekend that Dortmund fans told Mario Gotze exactly what they think of him, the German World Cup star has been advised to get his mind off a transfer and focus on what he can do for Bayern Munich.
Liverpool have been widely linked with a move for the 23 year old in recent weeks but, considering his standing in world football, they're certainly not the only club to be sniffing around the Bayern attacker. A return to Borussia Dortmund has been mooted and the club's chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has been very open about the fact that he would be welcomed back to the Westfalenstadion should it come to that.
The club's fans however, have a different take on the situation. During the 3-2 win over Bremen on Saturday, the Dortmund faithful unveiled a rather blunt message for their former hero.
Just in case your German isn't up to scratch, that translates as;
Milan or Madrid – Just not Dortmund! Piss off Gotze!
Delightful. But the case remains that even if Dortmund fans don't want to see Gotze back at their club, there are plenty of fans who do and the Anfield faithful are very much included in that latter group. This time last year, such a move would have been highly unlikeable but with Jurgen Klopp in situ and Gotze's game-time dwindling at Bayern, a cut-price move to Anfield is looking more and more possible.
However, one man who knows an awful lot about the situation that Gotze has found himself in, is suggesting that he needs to look away from Herr Klopp and concentrate on what he can do to make the situation at Bayern better for himself.
Robert Lewandowski has found the transition from Dortmund to Bayern an awful lot smoother than Gotze, and speaking this weekend, the Polish striker has suggested that his teammate would be best served by forgetting about offers from abroad.
Mario proved during the international break that he is always capable of showing what he can do and that he is a great player. He should not be reading what people say about him in the papers. He does not need all the extra pressure.
Mario knows how to deal with it, though. He is used to it. It is silly that there is so much talk about him. He is a Bayern player and he has plenty of games left until the end of the season to prove that he is good enough for Bayern.
He has plenty of time to prove his critics wrong. He should stay at Bayern for a long time because he is a great player.
With that £15-20 million fee still ringing in Liverpool fans' ears, they can only hope that Gotze ignores all that advice and decides that Klopp is the man to get the very best out of him.
