Ballack berates Bayern for putting Germany striker Gomez out of his stride

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The Stuttgart forward has been heavily linked with a move to the German champions and officials from both clubs met last week to discuss the 22-year-old.

And Ballack, who left Bayern to join Chelsea two years ago, feels his old club's pursuit of Gomez has taken the highly-rated hitman's focus away from Euro 2008.

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Ballack (centre) and Miroslav Klose (left) have hit the target but Gomez has still to break his duck at the European Championships

The midfielder told German daily Die Welt: 'I certainly find it odd negotiations are taking place during the European Championship.That is not good for the player and disturbs concentration.

'I have always had the view that I have done something before or after a tournament, so that you don't have to be busy with it during the tournament.'

Gomez came into Euro 2008 looking to build on his burgeoning reputation, but has so far failed to live up to the hype.

He has not scored in the competition so far - he missed an open goal from barely two yards against Austria - and was dropped for the quarter-final win over Portugal.

Ballack added: 'Of course you see as a captain how things are going with the other players.

'I have had a talk with Mario and he said that he can handle the situation. But I know through experience that it does have an influence if something is going on behind the scenes and your name is in the media the whole time.'