Former Liverpool star Harry Kewell rejuvenated his career with Galatasaray
Harry Kewell of Liverpool
Harry Kewell suffered injury issues during his time at Liverpool(Image: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
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Harry Kewell endured an injury-plagued five years at Liverpool but rediscovered his love for the game after leaving Anfield. Arriving as a dazzling winger from Leeds United in 2003, he regularly spent time on the sidelines, leading him to consider retiring while still in his 20s.
The Australian had supported the Reds growing up and was given the famous number seven shirt upon signing for Gerard Houllier’s side. Kewell made 49 appearances in his debut season, scoring 11 goals, but the biggest highs and lows of his career would come under new manager Rafa Benitez.
Injuries began to take a toll the following year, limiting him to 23 starts, but Kewell was still selected for Liverpool’s most important games. The forward started both the 2005 League Cup and Champions League finals, though he was heartbreakingly substituted after just 23 minutes against AC Milan. After regaining his place, Kewell was picked for the 2006 FA Cup final, only to be taken off in the 48th minute with a groin issue.
That injury signalled the start of an extended spell out of action, featuring just three times in the following campaign, and prompted him to consider his future. It was not until his 2008 move to Galatasaray, who the Reds face in the Champions League on Tuesday, that Kewell was able to overcome the lows he had experienced at Liverpool.
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"I was going through a bad moment towards the end of my time at Liverpool, because I didn't know what was happening with myself," Kewell told SBS Sport in 2017. "I remember sitting on the end of the bed and telling my wife, 'What's going on? I may have to quit' - I wasn't enjoying football. I wasn't feeling great; every time I was playing, my body was breaking down.
"We decided that I had to move to get a fresh start and break out of England ... my adventure started in Istanbul and I remember just falling in love with football again because I had gone through such a horrible time.
"At Leeds I felt great, then I won a lot of things at Liverpool but on an individual level it just wasn't great for me and I just didn't really love football that much. So when you talk about falling in love with football again that's what Galatasaray did for me."
Across three seasons in Turkey, the 47-year-old played 91 games, scoring 34 goals and providing 17 assists. While his only trophy came in the Turkish Super Cup, the joy Kewell felt at Galatasaray was worlds apart from the injury misery he faced during his Anfield spell.
“I’ve had 14 operations and the majority were at Liverpool,” Kewell said in 2016. “It was a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. You’d have an operation and you think ‘That’s it, that’s finished now’. I’m going to be brand new again.’ It doesn’t happen. An injury is like a jigsaw puzzle. You fix one area and something else goes.
Harry Kewell playing for Galatasaray
Kewell spent three years at Galatasaray(Image: BULENT KILIC/AFP via Getty Images)
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“The bottom of the world is when you’re sitting on the end of the bed crying, and you’re going ‘Am I ever going to play again?’ You’re sitting there going, ‘What’s wrong with me?’”
Despite contemplating whether to hang up his boots during his spell at the club, he has also discussed the positives from his time working under Benitez. Kewell, who is currently in charge of Vietnamese side Hanoi, has previously reflected on his ups and downs at Liverpool.
“If you look at the time I had [at Liverpool], three of those years I was injured,” the former Notts County manager told the Nottingham Post in 2018. “Then it becomes a cycle of coming back and getting injured, so you’re not getting a natural flow of games. Of course, it was disappointing because knew I had the ability.
“But then I did get to play in two Champions League finals, an FA Cup final, the FIFA World Club Cup and the Super Cup. I got to play in a lot of finals and it evened itself out.
“I was very lucky to play them even though I got injured in them, although Benitez used to say that when that did happen in a final they usually won, so cheers for that mate. But in all seriousness, Benitez is a great manager who is very tactical. He had a certain way of playing and you had to abide by that."
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