The sporting director of the German national team, Rudi Voller, believes “it probably makes sense” for Leon Goretzka to leave Bayern Munich in the transfer window. 

Goretzka, who has made 221 appearances for Bayern since his move from Schalke in 2018, has played a bit-part role ahead of the new Bundesliga season. 

The 29-year-old was not included in Vincent Kompany's squad for their 4-0 win over German second division side Ulm in the DFB Pokal last Friday. 

He was also left out of Julian Nagelsmann's plans at Euro 2024 with Germany, despite featuring in four of their 10 international fixtures leading up to the tournament. 

Goretzka started in 25 of his 30 Bundesliga appearances last season, winning 23 of his 41 tackles, only ranking the sixth highest in the Bayern squad. 

And with qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, Voller believes it is best for the midfielder to end his stay with the 33-time Bundesliga champions if he has aspirations of featuring in the competition. 

“He logically still has the quality to be part of the 2026 World Cup. It probably makes sense for him to move if he still has these aspirations," Voller said. 

“It makes sense to play somewhere else again. But in the end he has to decide for himself.”

Stefan Effenberg, who most recently acted as sporting director for KFC Uerdingen 05, echoed Voller's comments surrounding Goretzka's future at the club. 

"The players Bayern have brought in will take Bayern to a new level," said Effenberg on the current state of the Bayern squad. 

"It's also a fact that you still have a lot of players with whom you don't want to go into the new season. There is still a need to let go of one or the other.

"There are still many question marks at Bayern, they wanted to finish planning early. They didn't succeed. 

"You won't be nominated for the European Championship, you don't play a role in pre-season and you're not even in the squad against Ulm.

"You have to be sensible enough to say, 'Wait a minute, I don't want to go to the training ground every day and know that I'm not in the squad.' That wears you down."