Steven Gerrard has revealed that he had the opportunity to join Bayern Munich in 2012, but ultimately turned down the chance because of his loyalty to Liverpool.
The Reds were in the thick of one of their worst spells of the modern era having just finished 8th in the Premier League, while Bayern would go on to win the Champions League and an unprecedented German treble in the 2012/13 season.
Speaking on Jamie Carragher's 'Greatest Game' podcast, Gerrard revealed that while it was public knowledge that he had opportunities to join Chelsea and Real Madrid, lesser known is the fact that he also held discussions with Bayern over a move to the Allianz Arena.
Gerrard said: “I had a mad one as well after the Euros with Roy Hodgson [2012]. I think [Bastian] Schweinsteiger was coming to an end [of his time] at Bayern and we had some serious phone calls, and you think to yourself ‘Bayern Munich, how big are Bayern Munich? Imagine an experience going there’.
"But then that filters away and you think ‘hang on a minute, I’m Liverpool captain, why change? You’re already at a huge club, why would you want to affect your relationship with Liverpool?’"
Gerrard spent 17 years at Anfield before leaving for LA Galaxy in 2015. He added that he was
offered a new deal with limited playing time under Brendan Rodgers, but holds no grudges against his former boss or the club for how that was handled as he was the one who made the choice to leave.
“I made the decision not to sign for the extra year to be a squad player and that’s a decision I regret, because I might have got the back end of [Jurgen] Klopp and maybe the back end of playing maybe 20 games under the Klopp era - he might have got rid of me because I didn’t have the legs to play in his style," he added.
When asked by Carragher whether he regretted leaving for LA Galaxy, Gerrard replied: “From a football point of view one million per cent.”
Source : 90min