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Gotze, Van der Vaart voted biggest Bundesliga flops by fellow players

Mario Gotze and Rafael van der Vaart have been named the biggest disappointments of the Bundesliga season by their fellow professionals.

According to an annual kicker survey voted for by 183 German top-flight players, Gotze was the second biggest flop of the 2014-15 campaign, with just Van der Vaart finishing ahead of him.

But while Van der Vaart only avoided relegation with Hamburg in dramatic fashion during the Bundesliga relegation/promotion playoff, Gotze ended his season at the top of the table with Bayern Munich.

The Germany international took part in all but two Bundesliga matches, with only four appearances as a substitute, while scoring nine goals and providing four assists.

Gotze was, however, criticised by Bayern honorary president Franz Beckenbauer during the campaign, and was told: "It's time for him to finally grow up."

Kevin-Prince Boateng, meanwhile, finished third in the survey, with the midfielder only managing to play six matches over the full 90 minutes for Schalke before getting suspended by his club two weeks ahead of the end of the season. Boateng was told to look for another club this summer even though his contract still runs for another year.

Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen's Karim Bellarabi was voted the Bundesliga's "one to watch" ahead of Wolfsburg's Kevin De Bruyne.

Bellarabi returned to Leverkusen after a loan spell at Eintracht Braunschweig and scored 12 goals, while providing nine assists for the club. He was also capped for the first time by Joachim Low in October and has gone on to become a regular for Germany.

De Bruyne, who provided 21 assists and scored 10 goals, finished ahead of third-placed Jonas Hector of Cologne.