Leon Goretzka: 10 things on the legendary former Bayern Munich midfield marauder
From representing his hometown club at the age of six, through to his professional debut at 17 and to his first Germany cap two years later, Bayern Munich legend Leon Goretzka had a meteoric rise to the top of domestic and international football - and never looked out of place until his departure in 2026.
bundesliga.com retraces his path to footballing stardom from Bochum to Bayern...
1) Goretzka's got talent
Leon Christoph Goretzka grew up in Bochum, just five minutes away from the legendary Ruhrstadion, the home of his boyhood heroes VfL. He continued to hold a season ticket for his hometown club, whom he joined at the age of six and debuted for aged 17, when playing for Bayern. "He's Germany's biggest talent in 50 years," said his former Bochum coach Peter Neururer, delighted when he committed to a new five-year contract in 2012.
2) Schalke swoop
Neururer was not the only one to see that talent. Schalke fended off competition from Bayern to sign Goretzka in summer 2013, and he was immediately thrust into the fray by coach Jens Keller with his competitive debut coming in a DFB Cup game in early August. Third place, UEFA Champions League qualification and a call-up to the Germany squad - his first season could hardly have gone better for Goretzka, until they went a lot worse. A pre-season thigh injury ruined his 2014/15 season before he came back strongly for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 campaigns during which he established himself as first-choice in Gelsenkirchen.
3) Geriatric gym
Those early Schalke days were plagued by injuries. Muscular ailments, flu, tonsillitis and even a broken arm set him back physically, but rarely psychologically, as Goretzka took it all with good humour. "I'd just got back into light training again when I'd suddenly find myself back in the gym doing the simplest of exercises, next to pensioners who were working out better than me," he told spox.com. The cause of all those injuries was eventually found – in his food. "I completely changed what I eat," Goretzka told German sports magazine 11 Freunde. "As a result, I have fewer issues with my health and can recover from a game much quicker."
Watch: The best of Goretzka
4) Germany legend
Goretzka made his Germany debut aged 19, in the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Although named by Joachim Löw in an expanded post-season selection, the midfielder did not make the final 23-man squad. Injuries and appearances for Germany's under-21s meant his next Germany cap did not arrive for a further two-and-a-half years, but he has now picked up 70 caps and is preparing to appear in his third FIFA World Cup in North America.
5) Student in the game
During his first years at Schalke, Goretzka kept himself busy by studying for his Abitur (A-Levels/high-school diploma). The further education exams are not obligatory in Germany, but Goretzka did "not want to be the black sheep" in his family, since his three sisters all studied through to college. Furthermore, he felt that "having my Abitur could open doors for me after my playing career is over."
6) A winner through and through
"It's always fun to play football and also to win," he has said, adding he hated losing at cards while on family camping holidays in the Netherlands during his childhood. "I even like winning games in training, and I think you have to enjoy yourself when you play in order to be ambitious. That means the atmosphere changes when you're not successful."
Some 15 trophies in eight years at Bayern is testament to his enduring edge, which has clearly come from hard work. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said: "Leon has always been an important player at Bayern and always showed what it means to be an absolute professional and to fight.”
7) Dr. Leon & Mr. Goretzka
Like former Bayern teammate Joshua Kimmich, Goretzka is a football chameleon who can perform just as well across a range of positions. He has featured as an attacking midfielder, a number 6, a number 10, and a makeshift defender for the record Bundesliga champions, and played on the wing for Germany.
"I see that as an advantage," he said in 2017, but admitted that if he is played "as an eight, a little further up the pitch, that would be my preferred position."
8) Mr. Muscles
Goretzka underwent quite the transformation during the second half of Bayern's 2019/20 treble-winning campaign.
The skinny kid from Bochum, who bore all the hallmarks of a classic ectomorph, made the kind of gains it took a young Cristiano Ronaldo years to achieve in scarcely five months.
"I simply used the time to get to the gym more often and to do weight training," Goretzka said after spending the coronavirus-enforced lockdown glued to an Olympic barbell. "Of course everything was discussed with the fitness coaches at Bayern because you have to be careful not to lose your sprightliness - but I think I've found a good mix. I feel I'm in top form on the pitch right now."
9) Own(goal)ing it at Bayern
"A Germany international with big potential," was how Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge billed Goretzka after beating off stiff competition for his signature in January 2018, six months before the player's Schalke contract expired. Goretzka ended the 2018/19 season a double winner after his most prolific Bundesliga season to date with eight goals, but he also picked up an unwanted accolade: that of the German top-flight's fastest-ever own-goal. There were just 13 seconds on the clock when he inadvertently put the ball past Manuel Neuer against Augsburg on Matchday 22. Fortunately, Bayern came from behind to win 3-2.
10) Famous four
His standout moments for Bayern include lifting the 2020 UEFA Champions League and scoring in the UEFA Super Cup victory over Sevilla that year. He was always likely to offer attacking menace along with his midfield might, and the day he had four goal involvements in a 8-1 thumping of Mainz in 2023/24 shines as perhaps his most complete performance.
