The ex-Liverpool star could have signed for Real Madrid just before he put pen to paper with the Reds
Liverpool's Markus Babbel celebrates
Liverpool signed Markus Babbel in 2000(Image: EMPICS Sport)
View 4 Images
Former Liverpool defender Markus Babbel previously opened up about his bittersweet spell at Anfield. The German star revealed that he had almost moved to Real Madrid ahead of the Reds and later regretted the way his time at Anfield ended.
Liverpool signed Markus Babbel on a free transfer from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2000. Babbel helped Gerard Houllier’s side win a famous treble and qualify for the Champions League in 2000/01.
The right-back was ever-present in the Premier League and started all 60 of his appearances, scoring six goals and bagging five assists. It could have been very different, however, for the now 53-year-old.
“Yeah, yeah, Real Madrid wanted me,” he previously said when speaking to the Liverpool Echo on behalf of NewBettingSites.uk. “And it was a funny story because there was an agent there.
“He said: ‘Listen, tomorrow I will bring you a $1m if you're not going somewhere else, if you sign for Real Madrid. And I said: ‘Oh, thank you very much, but Real Madrid is not my club’.
“If I go to Spain, then the only team I would sign for is Barcelona, because I am a massive Barcelona supporter and Real Madrid wasn't ever my club and my team. They have the best players, but this is not my club.
“And, the funny thing is, I was on the way to Liverpool to sign the new contract. 6am in the morning and on the radio, the news came: ‘Spectacular, Markus Babbel is signing for Real Madrid! And I was on the way to Manchester, and driving over to Liverpool to sign the contract. That was a bit funny.”
Babbel started Liverpool’s Charity Shield and European Super Cup victories over Manchester United and Bayern the following August. Little did he know that his career on Merseyside was about to tragically unravel.
Markus Babbel of Liverpool celebrates after scoring the 2nd goal in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in April 2001
Markus Babbel became a cult hero on Merseyside(Image: Daily Mirror)
View 4 Images
Taken off at half-time in the Reds’ Premier League games with West Ham United and at Bolton Wanderers, out of breath, the full-back was diagnosed with the debilitating Guillain-Barre syndrome and was left in a wheelchair.
He battled back to fitness, returning in August 2002, but struggled to rediscover his previous form and fell out with Houllier. He was later sent off twice while playing for the reserves with the Reds' French boss later confirming that Babbel had no future at the club.
Content Image
Content Image
Looking back, the German regrets how his Liverpool career ended. “Yeah (I have regrets) but this is part of my life now,” he admitted. “You know, of course, I was a bit sad because after this fantastic first season. I always say, okay, this illness happened, you know, I can't change it anymore. And it was a bad period.
“The only thing that I sometimes think, if this illness would come, a year later, you know, that I could play a second year for Liverpool. But it's happened, you know, and to be fair, after this illness, I wasn't the same person as before.
Houllier brought Markus Babbel to the club in 2000
Gerard Houllier and Markus Babbel patched up their differences(Image: Getty)
View 4 Images
“I don't know, maybe in England, it's the same. In Germany. You say that the most important thing is the health, but you just say it, you know?
“But I was in a bad period, and I really was lying on the bed and I was thinking: ‘I give all my money back. I give all my titles back. The most important thing, I hope I get healthy again’.
“And, I had the luck to get past the bad illness. But I wasn’t the same person as before because I got divorced so my wife left England, my kids left England.
“So I was alone there and something happened in my head. I wasn't normal anymore, you know, I went out a lot. I was drinking a lot. I wasn't professional anymore. My lifestyle didn't fix to a professional footballer. And, that was the reason why I had to leave this club. To go back to Germany first.”
Despite their falling out, Babbel revealed he had made peace with the late Liverpool manager. “Afterwards, the good thing for me was, the 25th Hillsborough anniversary, there was a game in Liverpool at Anfield,” he said. “I was invited as well. And Gerard Houllier was the manager.
Markus Babbel looks on prior to the Second Bundesliga match between Fortuna Düsseldorf and FC St. Pauli at Merkur Spiel-Arena on December 11, 2021
Markus Babbel opened up on his short career with Liverpool(Image: 2021 DeFodi Images)
View 4 Images
“I went to him. I said: ‘Boss, I understand everything what you did. You were absolutely right. I was totally wrong. Sorry about this, but my head was lost. I was lost’.
“And so we had a good, good chat in this moment... But it is part of my life, you know. Of course I wish I could play a season, two seasons more for Liverpool. But, after this illness, I wasn't the same person anymore.”
Babbel would go on to spend the 2003/04 season on loan at Blackburn Rovers before joining VfB Stuttgart on a free transfer in the summer of 2004, and he remained there until 2007, where he retired from the game. Spells in management at the likes of Stuttgart, Hertha Berlin and Western Sydney Wanderers followed.
Join our LFC WhatsApp community and get all the latest LFC news, views, transfer gossip and more, as it happens We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.