Hitzfeld: 'Bayern don't believe in Gotze'

Former Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld feels the Bavarians' decision to bring in Douglas Costa this summer is proof that they do not have faith in Mario Gotze.

The Germany international has been struggling to live up to the high expectations ever since joining Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in 2013 and was benched for their 5-0 win over Hamburg on Friday, with Pep Guardiola preferring €30 million signing Douglas Costa instead.

"If you have complete faith in Gotze, you do not go out and buy Douglas Costa," Hitzfeld told Sky.

The 66-year-old then went on to question's Bayern's transfer policy in recent years as German stars such as Toni Kroos and Bastian Schweinsteiger have been replaced with arrivals from abroad.

"Players like Kroos and Schweinsteiger have left Bayern. [Xabi] Alonso and [Arturo] Vidal have been brought in in return. Both are good players, but Bayern have been moving away from the German market and that is problematic.

"There appears to be a bit of a trend where Bayern sign too many foreign players and the German mentality gets forgotten a bit."