Gomez extends his Bayern stay to 2016

MUNICH - Reuters

Mario Gomez (R) has been influential for Bayern Munich this season, scoring a league-best 23 goals in Bundesliga along with 11 goals in the Champions

Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez has extended his contract by three years to 2016 the day after his club booked a place in the Champions League semi-finals, the forward said on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old, who was Bundesliga top scorer last season and jointly leads this season’s charts with 23 goals, has been in fine form, also netting 11 times in the Champions League.

“I have always said Bayern are a great club, I feel well here and I see the best sporting prospects,” Gomez said in a statement.

Bayern, chasing a treble of domestic and European trophies, beat Olympique Marseille 2-0 in their Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday to win 4-0 on aggregate.

Gomez became the most expensive transfer in Bundesliga history when he joined Bayern in 2009 for what is still a record sum of 35 million euros ($46.69 million).

After a quiet first season, Gomez has firmly established himself as the number one striker at Bayern and has also won a regular starting spot for Germany.

“Mario Gomez has shown in the past years that he has become one of the best scorers in Europe,” Bayern sports director Christian Nerlinger said. “We are happy that he will keep scoring his goals for us.”

Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund’s Shinji Kagawa is planning a switch to the Premier League with Manchester United or Chelsea being interested in the Japanese attacker, according to a report in German daily Bild yesterday.

The 23-year-old has been in stellar form this season with 12 goals in 25 Bundesliga games.

Bild reported Kagawa is considering rejecting Dortmund’s offer to double his wages from 1.5 million to three million euros per season and extend his contract, which is due to expire in June 2013, until 2016.