5 footballers who were not preferred by Pep Guardiola

#3. Mario Gotze

Mario Gotze’s departure to Bayern Munich was one of those transfers that was met with a lot of anger from the fans. It was not just the move that angered Borussia Dortmund fans, but also the timing of his announcement as it came just before Dortmund’s semi-final clash with Real Madrid in the Champions League.

It is said that one of the reasons why Gotze wanted to join the Bavarian club ahead of the 2013-14 season was the appointment of Pep Guardiola as Bayern’s new manager.

The former Golden Boy award winner had a fairly good start to his Bayern and won the domestic double in his first season. However, he was not a guaranteed starter at his new club as 15 of his 45 games during that season came off the bench. The situation was similar for Gotze at the end of his second season with the club.

The ongoing season was crucial for Gotze to keep his Bayern Munich spell moving forward, but the arrival of Douglas Costa and Kingsley Coman has made it even more challenging for him to get playing time.

Guardiola now has most of his attacking players fit and available for selection and this has made Gotze’s situation worse. During Bayern’s clash with Juventus at the Allianz Arena, Guardiola turned to the relatively inexperienced Kingsley Coman to change the game in Bayern's favour while Gotze was on the bench. This is yet another indication of how badly he has fallen down the pecking order under Guardiola.