Former Bayern Munich defender Thomas Helmer has revealed he didn’t have the ‘courage’ to join Liverpool back in 1998.
Helmer, for those who don’t know, spent the majority of his career in Germany, playing for the likes of Arminia Bielefeld, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.
It was with Bayern where he really made a name for himself, making 244 appearances for the German giants in total and winning no fewer than seven trophies during a seven-year spell that saw them win three Bundesliga titles and the UEFA Cup.
He also a regular for the German national side, making over 70 appearances in total and becoming a European champions in 1996.
At the time it was reported that his wage demands, £1m a year, plus the length of contract he wanted could cause problems and the move never happened. He, though, says there is a different reason that it failed.
“I didn’t have the courage to go to Liverpool,” he told Sport 1’s “Lieber Fußball” podcast, relayed by Blick.
“At that point, I was a bit cowardly. The prospect of winning a few more titles was more important to me than adventure and money.”
Interestingly, Helmer did find the courage to move to England shortly after, joining Sunderland on a free transfer in 1999.
That move proved to be a brief one, to say the least, with him lasting less than a month at the club before returning to Hertha Berlin in August that year.
Quite what happened there is anyone’s guess, but it suggests England was not his cup of tea and perhaps he and Liverpool dodged a huge bullet courtesy of his lack of courage.
