Why has only 1 German ever played for United?

The Oracle

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I seriously doubt that has anything to do with it
It may not be.

My opinion was formed from a stadium and museum tour that I went on in the late 90's...

Tour Guide: "This is a section of the stadium that was bombed during World War 2"
**Nervous laughter from a couple near the front
TG: "What's funny?"
The couple: "We're German"

The couple didn't actually finish the tour - what the reasons were was anyone's guess.
 

harms

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English football wasn’t very interesting to foreigners when German footballers went abroad on a more or less consistent basis (Breitner, Netzer & Stielike to Madrid, Schuster to Barca, Rummenigge, Klinsmann & Matthäus to Inter...), and after that it was a combination of few players available & some random luck. Fergie tried to sign Özil & Lahm, Kahn spoke out that he regrets refusing our offer in the early 00’s... I think we were linked with Schweiny well before he signed for us too.
 

The Oracle

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So this is why Serie A historically had the best of their expats? Because Italy was their ally during the war?

I mean, seriously, Germans did a lot worse than bombing a stadium throughout the WW2, if they would’ve allowed that part of their history to dictate their lives, they wouldn’t leave the country at all. And how can Munich influence them? I can understand the idea of a collective guilt for the WW2 (although I don’t think that it’s applicable in this case), but why would a random German player feel overwhelmed because of Munich?
In my opinion, because the Munich air disaster was an incredibly sad event that because of where it happened, is associated with the country of Germany.

The bombing of the stadium by the Germans was a really bad thing that happened.

An incredibly sad event, and a really bad event, associated with the country of Germany; could be overwhelming for a German player.
 

hellhunter

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In my opinion, because the Munich air disaster was an incredibly sad event that because of where it happened, is associated with the country of Germany.

The bombing of the stadium by the Germans was a really bad thing that happened.

An incredibly sad event, and a really bad event, associated with the country of Germany; could be overwhelming for a German player.
Absolutely no german player will have any of these thoughts.
 

harms

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Weren't you guys close to getting Kroos at one point or did I imagine that?
Yeah, everything was agreed upon with Moyes, but then we sacked him, Van Gaal wasn’t overly keen on Kroos for whatever weird reason & Madrid went in with an offer.
 

Cheimoon

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English football wasn’t very interesting to foreigners when German footballers went abroad on a more or less consistent basis (Breitner, Netzer & Stielike to Madrid, Schuster to Barca, Rummenigge, Klinsmann & Matthäus to Inter...), and after that it was a combination of few players available & some random luck. Fergie tried to sign Özil & Lahm, Kahn spoke out that he regrets refusing our offer in the early 00’s... I think we were linked with Schweiny well before he signed for us too.
I'm having a complete brainfart here and can't remember the name, but there was also the guy that was about to sign until Van Gaal said No.

Edit: And of course you're posting his name while I'm writing this! :lol: (I kept thinking Klose and that wasn't right.)
 

AngeloHenriquez

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Has there been many Germans in the PL? Can only really think of the odd few other than Chelsea when they had a few at one point..
 

lysglimt

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I think it has much to do with the fact that we never really got the first german to join. You often read about players asking their countrymen or players they know about the club being interested in them. Maguire said he spoke to Evans and Rashford before joining United etc.

At the same time - it also creates an interest in the country. If we decide to go for a guy from Uruguay now - it will be easier because of Forlan, Cavani and in a few years maybe Pellistri. Same with Portugal because of Nani/Ronaldo, France because of Barthez, Silvestre, Cantona, Blanc, Martial and Pogba etc
 

harms

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Has there been many Germans in the PL? Can only really think of the odd few other than Chelsea when they had a few at one point..
Klinsmann, Huth, Özil, Hamann, Lehmann, Sané, Mertesacker... Arsenal seemed to have a few, although Chelsea is the undisputed leader.
 

The Siege

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I guess it's for similar reasons why English players rarely go abroad to the likes of Spain. If your existence feeds off your acclimatisation to culture, you tend to choose being satisfied there, instead of being immensely successful in a land where you think you'd be uncomfortable. The only way that discomfort changes is if you have validation that someone with similar cultural tendencies can feel at home there, and that happens through similar players having been there before, as @lysglimt pointed out, and even then that might not be enough.

Add to that the history from the great wars, and the general suspicion that the wider British population sees Germans with, unless they have a real 'The premier league is great and I must be great there' vibe, there's not a lot of reason for Germans to think they're going to have a good time in England.
 

lysglimt

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Has there been many Germans in the PL? Can only really think of the odd few other than Chelsea when they had a few at one point..
Many - Jurgen Klinsmann, Karl Heinz Riedle, Christian Ziege, Jens Lehmann, Uwe Rössler, Robert Huth, Emre Can, Lukas Podolski, Michael Ballack, Andre Schurrle, Leroy Sane, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Mesut Özil, Steffen Freund, Marcus Babbel, Eike Immel, Serge Gnabry, Max Meyer, Lewis Holtby, Mauritz Volz, Stefan Beinlich, Jerome Boateng, Sean Dundee, Per Mertesacker, Savio Nserenko - and all the ones who play there today

and there are probably 20-30 I cant remember
 

georgipep

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Ok, United could have put on a sell-on clause. They probably said the same thing to Dortmund. I stand corrected on Bellingham. But, as a general observation I think I'm about correct.
They could but I'm glad they didn't. United is not a selling club.

And on your previous point about paying to the extent of Real/Barcelona, you seem to forget all the records we've broken, including most expensive player in the world for Pogba.
 

Boavista

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In my opinion, because the Munich air disaster was an incredibly sad event that because of where it happened, is associated with the country of Germany.

The bombing of the stadium by the Germans was a really bad thing that happened.

An incredibly sad event, and a really bad event, associated with the country of Germany; could be overwhelming for a German player.
I don't think anyone associates the Munich air disaster with Germany beyond the fact that's where it happened. Why would they? It was an accident caused by weather conditions.

And Old Trafford being hit by a bomb is really insignificant in the grand scheme of all the bad things that happened during the war. I doubt many people even know about that.
 

Ekeke

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My guess is we're a bit over-concerned with german players wanting to go back to germany and losing them to Bayern. Thats my only guess based on us signing foreign players from Bundasliga (Kagawa and Miki for example) but German nationals. And then we've had a couple in the youth system but they werent rated high enough to push into the team

I dont think its a reasonable concern unless the player specifically has desires to one day play for Bayern
 

Red Comet

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Maybe we haven't really forgave the Germans for bombing Old Trafford during WW2.
 

Luke1995

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German players are used to the winter break, right ?

Maybe one of the reasons Bastian struggled for United was that he couldn't cope with the January schedule.
 
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German players are used to the winter break, right ?

Maybe one of the reasons Bastian struggled for United was that he couldn't cope with the January schedule.
maybe - but that doesn’t explain why he struggles up until Jan!

unfortunately he was just past it when we bought his. Great player in his prime.
 

Hansi Fick

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German players are used to the winter break, right ?

Maybe one of the reasons Bastian struggled for United was that he couldn't cope with the January schedule.
Then all, not just German, players moving from BuLi to PL should struggle, which they don't
 

Luke1995

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maybe - but that doesn’t explain why he struggles up until Jan!

unfortunately he was just past it when we bought his. Great player in his prime.
Was it Bayern's choice to sell him or did we push for it ? A bit weird that they would allow their captain and icon to leave at 30.
 

Luke1995

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Then all, not just German, players moving from BuLi to PL should struggle, which they don't
Then I think either the truly world class german players were never available in the market when Fergie was here or the ones that were, didn't suit Fergie's style of play.

For example, Oliver Kahn would have made a hell of a lot sense when Schmeichel left. Or maybe in 2005 instead of VDS we could have moved for him. Glad Edwin came though!