Mario Gomez: Stuttgart’s Deadly Striker Nearing Move to Man City

Despite a poor Euro 2008 tournament, Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez has been tracked by a number of clubs this summer including Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Tottenham. However, the exciting striker has today been strongly linked to a move to Manchester City tonight as the transfer deadline looms.

Gomez had recently declared that he ‘belongs’ to his German club. He had told his personal website, “I have a contract with Stuttgart which runs until 2012 and I never said I wanted to leave the club this summer.”

“There has been plenty of speculation in recent weeks and I wanted to make my feelings clear: I belong to this team.

“Of course, the interest expressed by one of the biggest clubs in Europe is a huge honour for me.”

Now, a move to Man City cannot be described as moving to one of the biggest clubs in Europe so this would be a major and surprising transfer coup. It could also signal that the Citizens are no longer prepared to make up the numbers in the Premier League. They could also be a serious threat to the status quo of the big four.

The 23-year-old Stuttgart forward burst onto the international scene with 6 goals in 15 caps including scoring his debut a 3-1 win over Switzerland in February 2007. However, Gomez failed to impress alongside Klose in the German assault on Euro 2008 and did not live up to his pre-tournament billing as one of the expected stars of the competition. Gomez has represented his country at every level from U17 despite his father being Spanish and his mother German. He’s only ever played his club football for Stuttgart’s amateur side as well as their first team.

The striker has only really proved himself at Bundesliga level in the past 2 seasons. He scored 14 goals in 23 League games in the 2006/07 season as Stuttgart won the League title in only his 2nd full campaign with the first team. In fact, his scoring record is superb for such a young player after scoring 21 goals in 43 League games for Stuttgart’s 2nd team and 41 goals in 92 League games for the first team.

Last season the forward scored an astonishing 19 goals in 25 League games (23 starts) and this season he has scored 2 goals in 3 League appearances. At 6 ft 2, Gomez is built to be a success in the English Premier League with both his strength and power.

The German star was expected to move to Bayern Munich this summer but after his disappointing showing at Euro 2008, the German Champions have pulled out of the running leaving the likes of Man City the chance of a clear run at the player although his recent comments suggest he would prefer to stay at Stuttgart.

So have you been impressed with Gomez? Do you regard his failure to shine at Euro 2008 as an indication he would struggle in England? Are Man City fans pleased to be linked with this player? Let’s hear your views.

Tags: Arsenal, Bayern Munich, City, Euro 2008, Germany, Man City, Mario GOmez, Stuttgart

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