German Football: Bayern Munich agree Gotze transfer

Mario Gotze will wear the red of Bayern next season

As Bayern Munich prepare to do battle with Barcelona in the Champions League, it's revealed that they'll be signing Borussia Dortmund's wunderkind Mario Gotze in the summer...

As if HMS Bayern Munich could get any more buoyant before the visit of Barcelona, the German champions have just announced the signing of Borussia Dortmund's young star Mario Gotze, who'll arrive at the Allianz Arena in the summer.

Reports suggest that Bayern have prised German football's hottest property away from their Bundesliga rivals by activating a €37 million (31.5 million) buyout clause in the 20-year-old's contract.

If there was any doubt over where the real power lies in German football, it has been answered here by this audacious swoop ahead of the Champions League semi-finals and the timing couldn't have been more apt.

Bayern are available at 2.111/10 to forge a lead at the Allianz Arena in their tie against the Spaniards and this announcement is a real statement in their bid to conquer the continent.

After relinquishing their Bundesliga title so meekly this season, the news will obviously be greeted with distain and disappointment in equal measures by Dortmund fans.

Dortmund's re-emergence as a major force in recent seasons, culminating in successive titles, has been undermined by the 20-point chasm between them and Bayern in the league at present and losing their brightest star only serves to undermine their status further.

It's exactly the wrong sort of message to be sending out of their camp ahead of their semi-final clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday, where the German hosts are 2.915/8 outsiders to beat Los Blancos. 

Though Jurgen Klopp's side remain the only unbeaten team in this year's competition, news of Gotze's impending exit is sure to rock the camp and may affect performance.

Already a full German international, the attacking midfielder is regarded as one of the most promising talents in the country and, to make matters worse, he came up through the Dortmund youth ranks.

His prospective move would make him the most expensive German player in transfer history.

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said his club were "disappointed beyond measure" about Gotze's decision to leave but that the player and his advisers had "behaved within the terms of the contract".