Mario Gotze's agent Roland Eitel is adamant the attacking midfielder did not fail during his three seasons at Bayern Munich.
The Germany international joined Bayern from Borussia Dortmund in 2013, but struggled to live up to the high expectations at the Allianz Arena and returned to BVB ahead of the 2016-17 campaign.
Nevertheless, Gotze's representative has stressed his return to Dortmund does not mean he failed at the Bundesliga champions.
"We have to treat players differently. Gotze has been playing at the highest level for five years. He deserves much, much more respect," Eitel told Eurosport.
"Why are we talking about how Gotze failed at Bayern? He is only 24 years old and has already won five Bundesliga titles, played 118 games for Bayern and fired Germany to World Cup glory. What do you mean a failure?
"Just like it is a lack of respect to say he should be training harder."
Gotze has netted once in two appearances in all competitions for Dortmund since his return, scoring the opener in the 6-0 Champions League win over Legia Warsaw.
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