Now, would Mario Gomez indeed sign a contract with Bayern Munich? I don’t know. As things stand, I only know what I get from various sources.
There’s Hoeneß’ claim that Bayern had almost signed him, and let’s not forget Rummenigge said something along those lines as well a few days ago.
Then there is what’s written on Gomez’ homepage, which is: “I never said I wanted to leave the club this summer. And I still have a contract with the VfB Stuttgart.”
Gomez’ advisor Uli Ferber says that he doesn’t know of any negotiations, and that all requests were handed to the VfB.
Sporting director Horst Heldt says the same as he said in the past weeks, which is that Stuttgart are not looking to sell Gomez this summer.

So, on the one hand Gomez and Stuttgart claim that there are no plans, but on the other Bayern seem to be surprisingly sure they can have him any time they want to, even though it didn’t work out this summer. Though one has to add that Hoeneß’ statement was printed in the same newspaper that also “knew” that Aleks Hleb was going to join Bayern (what is he doing in Barcelona, then, I wonder?) and which came to a certain negative fame when they tried to involve Bastian Schweinsteiger in some betting scandal that apparently never happened.

And, to be honest, it would be stupid from Stuttgart’s side to sell Gomez to Bayern at any point in his carreer. And I can’t see the major advance Gomez would get from a transfer there as opposed to some Spanish or English top club. I don’t think he’d do it, either, but then I don’t know him as a person. But it does give me quite a headache to think about the whole issue repeatedly.

Mario Gomez is, indeed very busy with the Euro: So busy he didn’t want to comment on the latest shocking rumour which claimed that he had signed a pre-contract with the FC Bayern. Actually the story wasn’t much more than a sidenote to the even bigger shock of Arsenal London’s Aleks Hleb joining the Bavarians. Unlike Gomez, who doesn’t answer the questions about this with more than a smile, Hleb openly said that there’s no truth at all about the stories and Uli Ferber, who manages both players, also stated that he didn’t know anything about negotiations with the German champion in both cases.

Gomez’ focus on the Euro goes so far that he now started wearing a hair band to keep his hair from falling into his face and disturbing his concentration. This message was so big it’s been addressed in several interviews, and so I felt obliged to give it a mention as well.

However he still isn’t focused enough to score his first goal at an international tournament. Apart from a missed chance and taking part in the set-up for the 1:0 against Poland, he’s been atypically invisible. Though I should probably be glad that he doesn’t catch too much attention from bigger clubs, it’s not something I like to see.

Stuttgart’s other players at the Euro haven’t left too much of an imprint, either (except for one). While Ciprian Marica is back in training after a light head injury and still waiting for his first match for Romania, both Fernando Meira and Thomas Hitzlsperger have been put on late during the match (Meira in both matches for Portugal, Hitzlsperger once in Germany’s first match against Poland) without changing much.

The one player who has shown the most effort is sadly the one who will definitely not stay for the quarterfinals: Ludovic Magnin took over the captain’s armband after the injury of Alexander Frei, but despite all efforts Switzerland didn’t make it to the next round.

Too bad, I don’t know any other European team whose captain manages to sing along to their national anthem fervently and wink at the camera at the same time. Though the other four Euro participants will be relieved now, since they had already been in fear of their Swiss defender’s merciless mocking, should their team go out before Switzerland.

Though not busy with the Euro, Stuttgart’s management is also very busy. After dozens of rumours about players leaving (Beck, Fischer, da Silva) or not returning from a loan deal (Gentner) and none of the transfers from last season convincing completely, the club’s officials have decided to return to the concept that proved to be successful before: Supporting the own youth.

In names, that means: After there already had been some disagreement about the transfer fee, now the decision is made to not let Andreas Beck go to Hoffenheim. Christian Gentner will most probably return at the end of next season – though Felix Magath seems to be disappointed about the negotiations failing and there’s even a chance Gentner might come back from Wolfsburg this summer already. Gentner himself says he hasn’t made a definite decision so far and didn’t want to exclude anything.

Negotiations are also going on with Manuel Fischer and Sami Khedira, the aim is to keep them in Stuttgart on a long-term basis.
Two of the young players who were introduced to the first team during last season have already left, though: Peter Perchtold, former captain of the VfB II, will play for Bundesliga relegates FC Nürnberg next season, midfielder Julian Schuster has moved to SC Freiburg. Good luck there!

Two players are still expected to leave: The Karlsruher SC made another offer for Antonio da Silva, the player doesn’t seem to have much of a future in Stuttgart and if the transfer fee is satisfying, he’ll go. There still aren’t any offers for Alexander Farnerud, though I heard the name Bröndby Kopenhagen mentioned somewhere.

Concerning Raphael Schäfer, the club is trying to “find a solution together. He’s got a contract with us and there is no reason to exclude him,” to quote manager Horst Heldt. Whatever that means.

The definite signings: With Jan Šimak (Carl Zeiss Jena) and Martin Lanig (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), the VfB has signed two midfielders. Simak is supposed to strengthen the lacking “creative” department, while Lanig probably is one who will start in the second team and be saved as an emergency solution. Šimak is currently working on the recovery from a groin operation in Stuttgart.

Loan deals: Due to disappointing performances, Sergiu Radu is probably going to return to Wolfsburg, Ewerthon will either stay at Espanyol Barcelona or return right to Saragossa. Both turned out to not be the solution we’ve been searching for in the attack.

David Pisot is currently on a loan deal at SC Paderborn and I suppose he’s going to return from there this summer, especially since inner defenders are something the club is missing.

As for Christian Gentner, loaned to Wolfsburg until 2009, apparently he wants to stay there. Magath and Heldt already discussed the options and it seems like Gentner will be sold to the VfL. A decision that probably is the best for him since he developed to a leading player there, but which disappoints me nevertheless, because I really would have loved to see him play at Stuttgart again. And why would Stuttgart first refuse to add a buying option to the contract and then decide to let him go a year later?

The goalkeeper situation: As I already wrote, Raphael Schäfer’s time in Stuttgart seems to be over. According to rumours, Horst Heldt already contacted Jens Lehmann, who may or may not be looking for a club to go to after the Euro 08.

Defence: On the right wing, Andi Beck wasn’t quite satisfied with always being second choice to Osorio, but as of lately there haven’t been any news, so I guess he’ll stay.
Edit: Okay, seems I was wrong about that and a) Andi is still very unhappy with his situation and
b) his agent is going to meet Heldt for a conversation about the possibilities…
The VfB is still looking for another inner defender after Gledson went back to Rostock this winter. This is important especially because Fernando Meira seemed extremely flattered by the offer from Juventus Turin last summer and somehow this story doesn’t quite seem to be over yet. With David Pisot and Marco Pischorn, Stuttgart have two alternatives from the own youth, but it is apparent that this doesn’t quite seem to satisfy the manager (though if they get another inner defender, Pischorn should look for a loan deal to get some practice).

Midfield: With two new midfielders signed, it’s getting a little crowded there. My guess is that Alexander Farnerud, who never quite had his breakthrough, is going to leave.
With Šimak, Bastürk and da Silva we now have three creative midfielders, or at least players who like to be called that. It’s quite possible that da Silva might have to go, too, even though his last performances weren’t really bad. However, since Bastürk came, he seems to have fallen from the coach’s favour, for what reason I can’t imagine.

I’m also having my doubts about Šimak. Not so much about his abilities on the pitch, but his personality, which has caused him trouble before. But he says he changed and is really glad about his second chance in the Bundesliga. Here’s to hoping he uses it.

Attack: The problem isn’t so much the attack in the starting line up, which worked out even in this season, the problem is to find someone to take the place of Gomez or Cacau in case of an injury. With Radu leaving, hopes are on Ciprian Marica, who didn’t live up to the expectations so far. But other players also needed a year to get used to their new environment, so I hope he’ll perform better next year.

Very uncertain rumours circle around the names Voronin and Pantelic (mostly speculations from the newspapers’ sides, nothing that should scare Abby), and then there’s Ivan Klasnic, who is leaving Bremen this summer, and who Horst Heldt called “interesting,” whatever that means.

As for Mario Gomez, here’s what he said last week: “It’s widely known that I feel very well here in Stuttgart and that I have a contract that still lasts a while, and right now I’m not contemplating to leave at all.”

It’s a little bit like last season, a lot of people say. Well, maybe it is, but it’s also different, because the bad start into the league has caused a gap that the team is still working on closing and of course the expectations are completely different.

Once again, I can’t comment that much on the match. It’s kind of unfair that people get a better TV coverage of the Bundesliga anywhere else in the world but here (or at least it seems to me like this) and with having to work on the weekend, it’s kind of hard to follow the matches up to a level where I can really form my own opinion of the team’s performances.

Anyway, what I saw of Hilbert was pretty good, not just the hitzelsbergeresque volley shot goal in the 20th minute but also the way he constantly played forward.
I’m not totally convinced concerning the qualities of playing with only one striker – but then, Marica hasn’t really performed that great this season, here’s to hoping that he’ll have his breakthrough next year – but I’m glad da Silva had a chance in the mid-field, even though it appears he didn’t really use it.

Who really showed an outstanding performance was Sven Ulreich, our goalkeeper baby. Sure at the age of nineteen no one can give perfect performances, but the parades he showed were quite impressive and together with our newly stabilised defence the goal wasn’t in much danger, at least for the first half.

The second half, then, once again showed a completely different team. I don’t know what it is with Stuttgart playing not more than one half (only the second against Rostock, not at all in Hanover, only the first half on Saturday) but it’s something I wish they’d stop, especially when they’re only leading 1:0. Veh said afterwards that one could pretend it’s tactics. I’d still rather have them play for 90 minutes.

Tasci and Khedira once again ended up lengthening the list of injured players, next to Gomez and Magnin. I don’t know what’s up with these two, one small injury seems to add to the other leading to a season with few match practice and not enough training, which then leads to another injury. Like Gomez, they need to work on stabilising themselves, but then, they’re both so young (Sami Khedira turned 21 last weekend, Tasci’s 21st birthday will follow later this month) that there’s enough time to develop (I really do have a weak spot for this second generation of “Junge Wilde”)

In other news, Mario Gomez was at the Sportstudio this Saturday, talking about the team, the hometown of his father, the transfer rumours (he’s still doesn’t feel like leaving and once he does, he wants everything to be perfect), his favourite club (still Barcelona? – “No, my favourite club is the VfB.”) and the importance of friendships in football. This led to a quite entertaining video clip of Ludovic Magnin, Thomas Hitzlsperger and Raphael Schäfer searching through his locker to find lots of hair care products – “he’s very vain and needs at least 30 minutes to style his hair.” “look-wise, his idol is Tim Wiese.” “more gel than hair.” – and a folder with contract offers from other clubs – “Oh, Manchester… wait, city. Too bad.” – and an obviously fake pre-contract with the FC Barcelona.
If you want to watch the interview, it’s here, sadly the embedding function is disabled for the video, the video clip I mentioned is at 3:38.

Oh, and Armin Veh has announced that he’ll quit training the VfB should they reach the second place since he’s got nothing else to reach in Stuttgart. Of course this was a joke but nevertheless some tabloids have started spreading the first rumours. I think I’ll save myself any comment on that.

Sadly for a while now, things won’t be about Gomez since he’s brought a slight injury from Hanover. He’ll be out for roughly two weeks with a torn muscle fibre in his thigh and probably won’t play in the very important matches against Hamburg and in Leverkusen.

This means, apart from the rest of the team having to remember how to score, that the scouts from roughly half a dozen clubs around Europe will have the time to take a rest now and spend their time at some other place than the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion (maybe that’s why there were so many visitors there lately despite the lousy weather?).

Gomez, the life-insurance of the VfB. Gomez, the extraterrestrial. Gomez, the mysterious being, as he was named by the Süddeutsche Zeitung recently. He’ unbelievably talented, he’s scoring goals with apparently every part of his body and in every situation, he is very modest and down to earth and on top of that, quite good looking (okay, I will stop talking about the looks of players now. I should at least try to appear like a serious fan here).

Almost every big club in Europe seems to want him. It started last summer with Juventus Turin, he didn’t want to leave then and our manager complained about the lack of morals there. Yes, we may be among the bigger clubs of the Bundesliga, but we’re a little naïve sometimes, expecting football to have morals.
At the moment, the rumour-list includes but is by far not limited to AC Milan, AS Roma and Real Madrid. His favourite in the Spanish league, Barcelona, hasn’t asked yet as far as I know, and of course there’s the faint hope that he’ll wait until they send an offer.

Fact is that he’s extended his contract to 2012 last year and has never talked about wanting to leave soon, as in right after the Euro, and I’d really appreciate everyone to take note of that before they consider him gone already. Actually he’s not talking about it at all and I’m not quite sure whether that’s a good or a bad sign.

Of course he feels very flattered by the praise but keeps repeating himself: He can’t promise anything since football is changing so quickly, but at the moment he’s not thinking about anything but playing successful football with his club and getting called up for the Euro (while he’s actually got a secure starting place and the rest of Germany is only discussing whether Klose or Kuranyi should play next to him).

Veh and Heldt have both mentioned several times that there’s an unofficial deal that he’ll stay at least another season, while he never seems to have heard of that either. The newspapers, with the evil tabloid with the four letters leading the way argue that if he’ll play as good in the national team as he did recently, even another year at Stuttgart will be illusive. What they forget is that if a player doesn’t want to leave and the club doesn’t want to sell him, chances are quite high that nothing is going to happen. So, what does he want? I guess the only people who know are Mario himself, his advisor and maybe his parents, but that’s about it.

As a fan of the team, of course I’m hoping. By now everyone has realised that Mario Gomez won’t end his career in Stuttgart, but that can mean anything. He’s still very young, has been playing constantly for not even two years, interrupted by three rather long-ish injuries.

I hope he’ll stay another year so maybe Marica will remember how to score goals not only in his national team or they can find another striker. Secretly I wish for two years since that would allow Manuel Fischer some development time and also because I’d really love to see him play together with Christian Gentner again, who will return from his loan deal at the VfL Wolfsburg in 2009. They’ve been a great team on the pitch before and now that both are on the edge of being the best footballers they could possibly become, it’s something I wouldn’t want to miss.

As a fan of Mario himself, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t one, my wishes are similar but not quite 100% the same. Of course I still want him to stay for at least one year, for his own sake. If he’s played more than three matches in an international competition, that would surely increase his position at the club he’d join then (of course for this sentence to be proven true, we’d have to qualify for an international competition this season).
He says he wants to go abroad. That’s good, because it doesn’t have such a high grudge-potential as going to a Bundesliga rival (think Kevin Kuranyi, for example, whose name you still find on Stuttgart jerseys, but in strikethrough, covered with black tape or with “traitor” written above it).
And of course I want him to go somewhere that’s good for him. One reason for his many goals is the rest of the team, both in Stuttgart as in the National Team, working with him and setting up the goals for him. Sure, sometimes he just needs to hold his foot near a badly executed cross to score, but what if nobody is willing to set up the goals for him? What if the player next to him is an even bigger star, one who’d rather make this goal himself?

Will he end up at a club that wants him because he fits into their system (Stuttgart buys all their players for this reason but then, like I said, we’re a little naïve) or will he be somewhere because their manager rather wanted to see him on their bench than on the pitch playing for their rivals? I really love the way he plays, love the way he smiles when he’s scored and I don’t want him to lose that smile. I don’t want him to end up somewhere he’d only be a trophy.
So, whenever he leaves, to whoever will have the honour to greet him as their new striker, take care of him.
He’s very valuable and made for great tasks.