Loris Karius reckons "half the Premier League" wanted to sign him before he completed a transfer to Manchester City.
The German was snapped up by the Citizens in 2009, and went on to represent the club's Under-18s and 21s teams before joining Mainz.
Karius later returned to the Premier League in 2016, putting pen to paper with Liverpool, where he is best known for his calamitous display in the 2018 Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid.
The shot-stopper dropped two clangers on the night, as Los Blancos ran out 3-1 winners over the Reds. Karius was subsequently shipped out on a two-year loan to Besiktas as Alisson was signed for £67million to replace him at Anfield.
The German recently reminisced on his first taste of England with Man City.
"I was playing in the U16 national team at the time, and there were a lot of scouts at the games. At 16 you could sign your first professional contract. I had offers from all sorts of clubs back then, but Manchester City went out of their way to help me," he told Transfermarkt.
"They showed me a concrete plan, for example how I could make it to the senior game. That fascinated me. I could just as well imagine staying in Stuttgart - but the concept and their plan for me did not convince me as much as that of Man City.
"So I said to myself: I'm going to take the challenge and I'm going to England.
"Who else was interested? It felt like half of the Premier League. In Germany, I actually only dealt with Stuttgart because VfB was and is known to do great youth work. I enjoyed great training there.
"At that time I only listened to the plans of Man City and VfB. At that time, the arrival of investors [in clubs] was only just getting started.
"Man City was actually a club that relied heavily on its own youngsters. Many made the breakthrough, the academy was in a good position - that's why I decided in the end on this club."
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