Mario Gotze to Liverpool: Reds confident of landing Bayern Munich star amid Arsenal interest

Liverpool are confident of landing the services of Mario Gotze from Bayern Munich in the summer as Jurgen Klopp has made his former player a high priority target for the club. The midfielder is said to be disenchanted with life at the Allianz Arena and is ready to reunite with his former boss in the Premier League.

According to the Guardian, the Reds have identified him as the marquee signing for the summer as they look to rebuild the squad to suit the style of the manager. Bayern are supposed to want a fee in the region of £30m ($42.6m) but the Merseyside club hope a deal can be agreed for a fee of around £15m-£20m owing to his contract situation at the club. Gotze will enter the final year of his contract at the end of the current campaign and that should give Liverpool the edge in the negotiations.

Thomas Muller has already admitted that his compatriot is not satisfied at Bayern following a difficult season. Gotze missed almost four months of the campaign through injury but even while fit Pep Guardiola has preferred Thiago Alacantra to the German World Cup winner, which has seen him make just 12 appearances in all competitions thus far this season. Die Mannschaft coach Joachim Low, however, warned him against making a decision in haste and has advised him to speak to incoming coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is replacing the Premier League bound former Barcelona manager before considering an exit from the Bundesliga champions.

Liverpool are not the only club interested in signing the World Cup final goalscorer, they will have competition from Arsenal, who are also keen on luring the midfielder to the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger will be looking to strengthen the midfield with Mathieu Flamini, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky set to leave at the end of the season. The Anfield outfit will have the advantage as the player is keen on reuniting with Klopp under whom he enjoyed the best spell of his career thus far at Borussia Dortmund, when they won two Bundesliga titles, one German cup and made the final of the Champions League.

The former Dortmund manager, who will be taking charge of his first summer transfer window, looks likely to make a major part of his transfers from the Bundesliga. He has already signed Joel Matip from Schalke and, apart from Gotze, the Mirror understands that Liverpool are also interested in signing FC Koln left-back Jonas Hector, who has already admitted that he will consider leaving his current employers if Klopp makes an approach.