BERLIN: Bayern Munich's director of sport Matthias Sammer says the Bavarian giants will decide upon the future of Germany's World Cup hero Mario Goetze at the club once the season finishes.
"We'll analyse the situation in the summer. We also need to see what the player wants," Sammer told magazine Kicker.
Goetze is a hero in football-mad Germany after his extra-time winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final, but he is unlikely to start Bayern's key Champions League last 16 showdown at home to Juventus on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old has a contract until June 2017, but has played just eight league games this season after missing five months with a groin injury and made his return in Saturday's 5-0 thumping of Werder Bremen.
Goetze played the first 54 minutes as a striker with first-choice Robert Lewandowski rested and has failed to hold down a regular first-team place during nearly three seasons with Bayern.
The Bavarian giants relieved Borussia Dortmund of their star attacking midfielder at the end of the 2012/13 season, after Goetze actioned a release clause which let him leave for 37 million euros ($40.69 million).
But less than half of Goetze's 67 league appearances over three years at Bayern have seen him play the full 90 minutes.
Even Dortmund's CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke admits feeling disappointed to see Borussia's former star on the bench.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, who will leave at the end of the season to coach Manchester City, has described Goezte as a 'special player', but clearly does not see him as a first-choice in the middle, with Thiago Alcantara and Arturo Vidal ahead in the pecking order.
When asked about his future after the Bremen game, Goezte simply said he was just happy to be playing again.
"After so long out, I am just happy to be playing again. The important thing is to physically be in good shape," he told Sky before admitting he is still only '80 percent' fit.
"When I decide about my future, it will depend on many factors," he later told ZDF.
Having come to Bayern with much fanfare, Germany's World Cup winner has not achieved the same degree of success in his club's famous red shirt as he has for his country.
"This is a player who was a big-name signing for us," said Bayern's chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, without commenting on Goetze's future at the club.
"It would be nice if Mario, in the next two months, which are very important for us, helps make sure there are one or two pieces of silverware on the table at the end."
Certainly much will depend on whether Carlo Ancelotti, Guardiola's replacement, can find a place for Goetze in Bayern's star-studded starting line-up for next season.
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