Former Germany international Thomas Helmer has revealed he turned down a move to Liverpool in 1998, lacking the “courage” make the switch to England.
Helmer won Euro 96 with Germany, playing against England in the semi-finals, as they beat the Three Lions on penalties.
Helmer was a Bayern Munich player at the time, but in 1998, he had the opportunity to sign for Liverpool, as the Reds looked for a new centre-back.
Speaking on Sport 1’s “Lieber Fußball” podcast [via Sport Witness], the 55-year-old revealed how he rejected Liverpool’s advances, however, because he was comfortable at Bayern:
I didn’t have the courage to go to Liverpool.
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.
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Helmer was a well-renowned, successful centre-back at the time, so he would likely have been an impressive addition to Liverpool’s back-line.
Defence was the Reds’ Achilles heel during the 90s, with the likes of Phil Babb, John Scales and Neil Ruddock never quite cutting the mustard, among others.
Fortunately, Gerard Houllier turned things around not long after the Helmer links, signing Sami Hyypia and making Liverpool extremely difficult to beat.
It could even be argued that had Helmer joined, Liverpool would never have got to see a legendary Reds player in Hyypia.
