Lothar Matthäus could once have made history – not only at FC Bayern, but also at Real Madrid – but a spectacular move to the Spanish record champions fell through at the last minute
In an interview with BILD, the 1990 world footballer looked back on his career – and revealed a previously little-known episode: Matthäus was on the verge of a move to the Whites in the early 1990s
„Everything was already clear between me and Real,“ explained the current TV pundit. A sentence that makes you sit up and take notice – after all, this transfer could have taken the career of Germany’s record international player in a completely different direction
Inter stopped the Real transfer
The deal ultimately fell through not because of the player himself, but because of his club at the time, Inter Milan, whose president Ernesto Pellegrini refused to give him the go-ahead – thus shattering his dream of moving to Madrid
It was a defining moment for Matthäus, even if he emphasizes in retrospect that he missed „absolutely nothing“ in his career. Nevertheless, this missed transfer remains one of the great „what if“ stories in European soccer
At the time, Matthäus was at the peak of his career: after winning the 1990 World Cup, the UEFA Cup with Inter and the World Player of the Year award, he was one of the most sought-after players in the world
Return to FC Bayern as a turning point
After his move to Madrid fell through, Matthäus initially looked set to take a different path. He later even reached an agreement with Juventus Turin, but a cruciate ligament rupture in 1992 also prevented this transfer
In the end, his path led him back to FC Bayern – a move that proved to be formative for the rest of his career. Matthäus returned to Munich for around 4.2 million Deutschmarks and once again developed into a central figure at the record champions
In his second spell at Bayern, he won several championships, cup titles and another UEFA Cup, and is still one of the greatest players in the club’s history
Matthäus sees Bayern at an advantage against Real
Even decades later, the connection to FC Bayern remains – and in the current clash with Real Madrid, Matthäus even sees his former club as having the advantage. „I still believe that Bayern, in the form of the past few weeks, is more experienced and further ahead than Real Madrid,“ he explained. His assessment is clear: „I would say Bayern are 60:40 favorites.“
This closes a circle: Matthäus was once on the verge of wearing the Real Madrid jersey himself – today he is rooting for FC Bayern in a direct duel against the royals.