Mario Gotze hopes to return to pre-season training with Borussia Dortmund soon after reporting encouraging progress on his recovery from a metabolic disorder.
Gotze, who scored Germany's winning goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina, returned to Dortmund from Bayern Munich last season but was restricted to 16 appearances and two goals as he was blighted by fitness problems.
The diagnosis of his illness ended the 25-year-old's season early and he is keen to make up for lost time when Dortmund reconvene under new boss Peter Bosz
"Due to a metabolic disorder, I was unable to play football lately," Gotze said in a statement on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
"During the last few months I have gone through a successful treatment and I am back on track now.
"Tomorrow [Friday] I will start with the third stage of my recovery program. This means I will complete the performance test and begin training with the team soon.
"I am more than excited to be back in the stadium and on the training ground again."
Gotze went on to congratulate Dortmund on closing 2016-17 with DFB-Pokal glory, along with Germany's triumphant teams in the Confederations Cup and European Under-21 Championship.
He thanked Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc and the club's medical staff for their support during his lay-off.
Dortmund face Bayern in the DFL-Supercup on August 5 and begin their Bundesliga campaign away to Wolfsburg two weeks later after a DFB-Pokal tie at Rielasingen-Arlen.
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