Basel wanted St. Gallen's leading wolf Lukas Görtler explains: "That's why I turned FCB down"
Lukas Görtler confirms in the football talk show "Heimspiel" that FC Basel wanted to sign him. However, an offer from YB did not materialize. The St. Gallen captain explains why a move within Switzerland is out of the question for him - and why his heart clearly beats green and white.
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- FCSG captain Lukas Görtler confirms in the football talk "Heimspiel" that FC Basel wanted to sign him during the tenure of coach Alex Frei, but that a transfer was never a serious consideration for him.
- Görtler emphasizes his strong connection to St. Gallen, where he feels at home both as a player and as a person and has been captain since 2021.
- A move within Switzerland is hardly conceivable for him anyway. According to Görtler, there was never an offer from Young Boys, as there was not much mutual sympathy.
In the summer of 2019, St. Gallen signed a certain Lukas Görtler - still under the current GC sporting director Alain Sutter. The then 25-year-old was a wandering bird.
The German had spent the previous two years playing in the Dutch honorary division at FC Utrecht. Görtler came through the youth ranks at 1. FC Nürnberg before finding his way into Bayern Munich's second team via Eintracht Bamberg. He then played for two years at 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
Görtler finally found his fortune in eastern Switzerland. The midfielder marches forward - on and off the pitch. In 2021, he took over the captaincy, which he still holds today.
Alex Frei made advances
His qualities also caught the eye of the competition. When Alex Frei is coach in Basel (July 2022 to February 2023), he wants to sign Görtler, as blue Sport editor-in-chief Andreas Böni mentions in the football talk show "Heimspiel". Görtler confirms the statement and says: "In the last seven years, I've had a few phone calls with Swiss clubs, but they were mostly relatively short."
When he came here from abroad, FC Basel was the club that "somehow represented Switzerland", he explains. "That's still the case for me. Basel is the second most likeable club for me - apart from St. Gallen. It somehow has an appeal that you can't deny," Görtler states.
St. Gallen means a lot to Görtler - YB less so
But the veteran makes it clear that FCSG has captured his heart. "It was always clear to me relatively quickly that I was so dedicated to St. Gallen, I was so warmly welcomed and I've built something for myself here," emphasizes Görtler, adding: "I have something special here." For these reasons, a move was "difficult to imagine" for him. "And even more difficult in Switzerland," says the 31-year-old.
Does he have a phone call with YB, presenter Stefan Eggli wants to know? "No. I think YB know that wouldn't be an option for me at all," says Görtler. He takes a relatively strict view of the whole issue. "If I got another offer from somewhere in America where I was earning three million a year and going out on artificial turf every day, then I might think twice about doing it," jokes the German. But it's not what he envisioned in his final years as a professional footballer.
And what about a sporting future in Bern? "I think the sympathies are mutual ... not really a match," says Görtler meaningfully.
