Lahm Reveals Why He Snubbed Manchester United

Philipp Lahm has disclosed of how he almost made a move to the Old Trafford from Germany in 2008. The 31 year-old Bayern Munich skipper has been at the Allianz Arena since he was 11 years old, and was recently named one of the best 5 greatest Munich players of all time by Pep Guardiola.

The World Cup winner has played dominantly as a full back for both club and country for years until his conversion to a defensive midfielder following Guardiola’s arrival. Lahm, who was voted ahead of Evra for the leftback position in the 2008 FIFA team of the year, was a high priority transfer-target for Sir Alex Ferguson that same year.

His desires and dreams to win everything with his childhood club made him reject leaving, and he put pen to paper for a contract extension when he had just a year left on his then-current contract. Lahm revealed,

“It was a topic seven years ago because my contract didn’t have that long left on it at the time. I thought about leaving. I thought about a new challenge. It was always the most important thing for me to be as successful as possible with my club, Bayern. Maybe I would have had the chance to win the Champions League some time before I eventually did. But it would not have been the same emotionally.”

He finally lifted the coveted European trophy for Bayern in the 2012/2013 season, 5 years after United won it in the 2007/2008 season. Lahm in United would have been great addition to the squad, and it remains a fantasy what type of versatility he would have brought to the Red Devils.