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Mario Gomez needs a new club. Well, he doesn't need a new club: he is reportedly under contract with Fiorentina until 2017, and his salary is due to rise to more than $5 million per year next season. And that pay increase - plus the striker's modest form since moving to Serie A - is why Fiorentina reportedly needs Gomez to find a new club.
More accurately, Fiorentina needs to find Gomez a new club. The rumor mill keeps doing its best to help out: the day before the UEFA Champions League final, Viola News reported that Uli Ferber, Mario's agent, was in Berlin and taking the opportunity to meet with Hertha BSC officials to discuss a possible transfer.
By the Monday after the final, that story had hit the bigger news outlets in Italy and Germany. One problem, however: according to Berlin based paper B.Z., sources within Hertha have indicated Gomez's salary "is not financially viable" for the club. The rumored move is "probably only a dream" suggests the article posted by Nahne Ingwersen.
The rumor mill has no trouble generating potential new homes for Mario Gomez. In the same report that mentioned the possible move to Hertha, Corriere dello Sport says Hoffenheim and Schalke are also interested. As might be expected for a former Germany international, Bundesliga clubs have been persistently linked to Gomez since it became clear that he needs to move on.
He has also recently been connected to Swansea City, and Shakhtar Donetsk, who it has been suggested might be persuaded to part with Fernando in exchange, a rumored Fiorentina transfer target.
What has not been suggested with any great conviction by the near-daily stream of reports speculating about Gomez's future is a move to the USA. Back in May, it was suggested the player was being shopped to MLS - specifically its New York clubs - but that rumor has been conspicuous by its failure to advance while the player has been linked to a succession of top-flight Euro clubs.
It has been said he's holidaying in the USA, and there was a half-hearted mention of "a possible future in the US" by Viola News on June 8. On June 2, Goal.com mentioned Gomez might have "new sponsorship opportunities" in America or the United Arab Emirates.
But this is lackluster rumor-mongering, especially when any chat about the US is buried halfway down an article seeded with big European club names. This one feels like its slipping away. The rumor mill either needs to up its game and find a few specific MLS teams to tease us with, or we will be forced to conclude that Mario Gomez and his multi-million dollar payday are in no danger of landing in North America, let alone with the New York Red Bulls.