"Never against the club": Why Andy Möller left BVB for Schalke 04 | OneFootball

Andreas Möller has achieved everything in football. The now 58-year-old former professional can call himself a World and European champion. He won the German Championship, the DFB Cup, the Champions League, and also the UEFA Cup. He caused a stir with his transfer from Borussia Dortmund to FC Schalke 04.

From 1988 to 1990 and again from 1994 to 2000, the Frankfurt-born player wore the black and yellow jersey. But then Möller moved to the great arch-rival in Gelsenkirchen. This was initially not well received by both fan groups.

"My contract with Borussia was expiring, and there were also changes there," recalls the gifted technician on the podcast kicker meets DAZN. That year, Matthias Sammer (now 58) took over the training leadership at BVB. Although he had been "very close" with his former teammate, he didn't want it "somehow", Möller candidly tells.

His contract with Borussia expired in the summer of the millennium. Clubs from China and Qatar approached the midfield maestro. Financially, a move would have been worthwhile, but the offers did not appeal to him in terms of sport, Möller reveals. "I was 32, but I felt good and said that I could still play at a very good level for a few more years," he reports. An engagement in Gelsenkirchen seemed much more appealing to him.

"Win no war"

The 85-time national player knew that a move from Dortmund to Schalke would be "very, very difficult". But he wanted to prove himself once more in the autumn of his career, to show his critics, who called him "crybaby". "I wanted to counteract the image that I was a softie and that you couldn't win a war with me. That was the reason," the 58-year-old reaffirms.

An important, if not decisive role was played by Schalke's then manager Rudi Assauer. The former professional from Borussia Dortmund, who died in 2019 at the age of 74, wanted to "definitely" sign him. "The way he tackled it [...] was quite impressive."

To the BVB fans who were upset about the transfer, he says today: "I understand their point of view, but all this was never against the club. I wanted to take this step for myself, to leave this image behind me."

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.