Top 50 Footballers In The World: The Definitive List

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20. Bayern Munich and Germany attacking midfielder Mario Goetze

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Mario Goetze may only be 21 years old, but he will become Germany’s most expensive player of all time when he joins Bayern Munich from Borussia Dortmund this summer for £33million – a sign of how far he has come in such a short space of time.

The skillful playmaker has been a key player in Dortmund’s recent success, playing his part in their two title wins in 2011 and 2012, as well as in their run to the 2013 Champions League final, though he did not play against his future side Bayern Munich at Wembley due to injury. The youngster watched from the stands, cheering on Dortmund in what would have been his final game for the club before joining their rivals.

His absence in the final certainly hindered Dortmund as they were beaten 2-1 by Bayern, though the Bavarians have been in superb form this season as they managed to win the first treble in German history. The introduction of Pep Guardiola as manager and Goetze to their side will surely make them a force to be reckoned with for many years to come, and there’s no doubt Goetze deserves his place in this team of fantastic attacking players.

Goetze scored 16 goals and provided 14 assists for Dortmund this season, and can play in a variety of attacking midfield roles. He often drifts wide, but is probably best used centrally, and has been compared with Lionel Messi as he is slowly being nurtured into a ‘false 9’ role for the German national team. That is come compliment, but Goetze looks like a player worthy of that praise as he looks set to be one of the world’s best players for many years to come. And of course, it was Guardiola that truly got the best out of Messi in his days at Barcelona, so who knows what he could achieve with Goetze?

He already has 22 caps and 5 goals for the German national side, even when up against the likes of Mesut Ozil, Thomas Mueller, Marco Reus and many others in their superb attacking lineup.

Although there are many exciting young players coming through at the moment, and many experienced pros still playing at a superb level, Goetze is up there with the best of them and deserves his place among the best footballers in the world.

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