AMSTERDAM – Mario Gotze was interested in joining Bayer Leverkusen but there was no place for the 2014 World Cup hero on the Bundesliga team because of a teenager, coach Peter Bosz has said.
"He wanted to come to Leverkusen but we have Florian Wirtz, among others, on that position," Bosz told Saturday's edition of De Telegraaf paper in his native Netherlands.
Wirtz, 17, is seen as one of Germany's biggest current football talents.
Goetze, who scored Germany's winner in the 2014 World Cup final and played under Bosz during his short reign at Borussia Dortmund, on Tuesday joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on a two-year contract after his deal in Dortmund was not renewed.
Bosz said he was surprised about the decision of the 28-year-old Goetze to join the Eredivisie club.
"You expect someone like Mario Goetze at a big club in a big football country. PSV are a big club but in a small football country," Bosz said.
DPA