Report: Hasan Salihamidzic vetoed potential Mario Götze transfer to Bayern Munich

Back in the summer, there were rumors circulating that Mario Götze could wind up making a return to Bayern Munich before the transfer window closed in October. Hansi Flick even had positive telephone conversations with Götze during the summer period and it looked as if a move back to Bayern was a legitimate possibility for the 2014 World Cup winner.

Ultimately, he wound up transferring to PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie from Borussia Dortmund before the window closed and he’s enjoyed a relatively bright start to his campaign there, so much so that Joachim Löw has considered calling him up to the German national team.

Per a new report from Sport Bild, we now have further insight as to why Bayern never decided to accelerate their pursuit of Götze. While Uli Hoeness still has some influence in the decision-making process at FC Bayern even after leaving his post as club president, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic has been firm with his personnel opinions in the transfer market.

Per the report, Hoeness was a big advocate for trying to get Götze back to Bayern this summer/fall and even went as far as having conversations with some of Götze’s representatives, who were concretely interested in a potential deal. Hoeness also had several telephone conversations with Götze himself, who seemed to be on board with a return, more than likely aided by the pre-existing relationship he has with Hoeness and FC Bayern.

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At the time Hoeness and Flick were communicating with Götze , there was also serious interest from fellow Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin. Götze had said he’d even be willing to take a salary cut to be able to move to Berlin, but sporting director Arne Friedrich had said that Hertha did not want to have to restructure the club’s wage system just for one player, so a deal never progressed beyond the point of interest, and interest alone.

At Bayern, Salihamidzic ultimately overruled Hoeness with the decision not to pursue Götze any further. Brazzo perhaps wants to make it clear to Hoeness that it’s his job to make the personnel decisions in coordination with Flick, Oliver Kahn, and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. While he still maintains a close relationship with Hoeness, the transfer department is one area where Brazzo seemingly wants to have a sense of control and authority, so the decision making process can sometimes counter what Hoeness’ opinion(s) might be. For example, Hoeness was not consulted at all about the Douglas Costa loan deal from Juventus, but Brazzo pushed it through before the window closed. Costa, of course, was a player that Hoeness didn’t hold in the highest regard back in 2017 when he had referred to him as a “mercenary.”

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