The Daily Bee (October 7th, 2020): Mario Götze Signs for PSV

Good morning, Fear the Wall!

Gotze to PSV Eindhoven

I’m not sure if you could tell from the lead photo, but Mario Gotze has officially signed for PSV Eindhoven of the Dutch Eredivisie as a free agent, inking a two-year contract with the Dutch heavyweights.

Gotze, 28 years old, originally re-joined BVB in 2016 after signing with the German Death Star, aka Bayern Munich, for €37 million in 2013, a record fee for a German. While injuries and a myopathy diagnosis in 2017 took away much of what made him a rising star in global football, Gotze still performed admirably for Dortmund upon his return with 103 appearances and 14 goals across all competitions while Dortmund went through a few managers. Combined with his BVB tenure from 2009-13, Gotze appeared in 219 matches and scored 45 times across all competitions.

Mario saw plenty of success while wearing the black and yellow of Dortmund, winning consecutive Bundesliga titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and Pokal titles in 2011-12 and 2016-17. Most importantly, though, he brought home a DFL-Supercup trophy in 2019, solidifying his status as a Dortmund legend. Mario also saw success with the German National Team, scoring a pretty important goal in the 2014 World Cup and winning the U-19 European Championship in 2009. I guess he also had some success in Munich, but let’s not talk about that right now.

I wish nothing but the best for Mario as he plays for a non-German team for the first time in his career. While the Eredivisie is nothing like the Bundesliga in terms of quality or exposure (both leagues are now on ESPN+), Eindhoven are one of the top teams in the league so he will definitely be in a battle for the league title with powerhouse Ajax.

DFB Raided?

In the wee hours of this morning, German police raided the homes and offices of members of the DFB due to allegations of tax evasion.

According to Bild, the homes of six current and six former DFB officials were raided by approximately 200 officials from various law enforcement agencies in relation to allegations of tax evasion. The article states that under former DFB boss Wolfgang Niersbach, the organization “deliberately, incorrectly” declared advertising for national team matches in 2014 and 2015 as income.

One of those individuals who had their home searched was BVB President Reinhard Rauball. Rauball, who has served as Dortmund’s President since 2004, was the head of the German Football Association from 2015-16 and has been the President of the DFL since 2007, is among those accused of ignoring members of the organization not paying the appropriate tax. Could his involvement in this scandal somehow affect BVB? We’ll find out as more details from the investigation emerge.

The Daily Buzz

How’s everyone’s Wednesday going so far?