Jogi Löw: in contact with Mario Götze, but Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng, Mats Hummels still out

At least one former Germany star may make a comeback in the near future: head coach Jogi Löw confirmed to SportBuzzer that he is in contact with Mario Götze. Götze, who has played for both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, is enjoying a renaissance of form and Spielfreude with PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Löw said, “I have been in touch with Mario several times in the past few weeks. He’s kept me up to date. In my view, he made exactly the right decision for himself — namely, to undertake a restart outside the Bundesliga fishbowl.”

Since scoring the decisive goal that won Germany its last World Cup trophy in 2014, Götze had “everything always focused on him in Germany,” Löw said. “He had a backpack on in the form of the goal from 2014, which was definitely a heavy burden. That’s why I’m happy for him that he’s started so well in Eindhoven.”

After struggling with his form and a metabolic disorder since 2014, Götze was dropped from the team that traveled to Russia in 2018. Löw admitted he is surprised by Götze’s current strong form: “That was unexpected. He seems very fresh and very nimble; you can tell he’s happy. He needs that for his light-footedness, for his variability. We’re keeping an eye on him, obviously.”

While Götze thus could potentially rejoin the national team, Löw reiterated that he has no intention of recalling Thomas Müller, Mats Hummels, and Jerome Boateng, all three of whom were among the best German players in the world over the past season.

“We very deliberately wanted this rejuvenation process,” Löw said, “and players like Gnabry, Sané, Kimmich, Werner, Goretzka, Süle, Havertz need space to develop. They need playing time and have to gain experience. Just as Thomas, Mats, and Jerome needed it before they became pillars at the World Cup in Brazil. I know, however, that these three are outstanding personalities with individual class.”