Borussia Dortmund: Götze to leave at the end of the season
Mario Götze and Borussia Dortmund have agreed to part company after the 2019-20 season finishes, it has been announced.
Borussia Dortmund's Mario Götze is to leave the club at the end of the season, sporting director Michael Zorc has confirmed.
The midfielder confirmed in April that he was planning to leave Signal Iduna Park as he sought a new direction for his career, although CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke later suggested Götze could decide to sign a new contract.
Head coach Lucien Favre placed Götze's future back in doubt this week when he admitted the player was not suited to their preferred system.
"We will finish our work with Mario this summer" - Dortmund sporting director Zorc
Speaking ahead of Saturday's Bundesliga clash with Wolfsburg, Zorc confirmed Götze will leave on a free transfer at the end of 2019-20.
"We will finish our work with Mario this summer," Zorc told Sky. "It's a decision made by mutual consent after a good conversation. Mario is a great guy."
Götze returned to Dortmund in 2016 having left his boyhood club to join Bayern Munich three years earlier.
The 2014 World Cup winner, who scored the decisive goal in the final against Argentina, has struggled for regular form and fitness in recent years partly due to a debilitating metabolic condition.
Serie A clubs rumoured to be eyeing Götze
Hertha Berlin are reported to be interested in keeping him in the Bundesliga, but Serie A clubs including Milan, Roma and Lazio have also been linked.