To the modern generation of football supporter, free signings of out-of-contract players are a long-established aspect of the transfer landscape.
For over a quarter of a century now, a key element of many clubs’ recruitment strategies has involved identifying players coming to the end of their current deals - often a year or two in advance - who can be enticed with an attractive signing-on fee and salary package in lieu of a fee to the selling club.
Liverpool’s first experience of the ‘Bosman’ system - named after the Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman, whose landmark legal case at the European Court of Justice in 1995 concerning freedom of movement for workers meant clubs could no longer retain the registration of players they no longer held under contract - was not a positive one, losing one of their most talented homegrown stars Steve McManaman to Real Madrid for nothing in 1999.
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Like many, the Reds have learned to use the system to their advantage over the years with two key players of the current squad under Jurgen Klopp who have brought every major honour back to Anfield in recent years - James Milner and Joel Matip - being procured in such a manner, Milner’s impact and influence leading to him in the eyes of many to have at least equalled and for some usurped Gary McAllister’s unofficial title as Liverpool’s ‘best ever free transfer’.
The Scot, who arrived at Anfield at the age of 35 to add nous and experience to Gerard Houllier’s rebuilding project at the turn of the century, is revered for his role in helping the Reds to an unprecedented treble of cup triumphs but there was another important free acquisition that same summer whose role during the Frenchman’s 2001 odyssey should never be overlooked.
Markus Babbel had already established a reputation long before he appeared on the Anfield radar as one of the most decorated players in German history, making his name as a cultured yet sturdy defender who could play at both right back and centre half. Having signed schoolboy forms shortly before his ninth birthday, Babbel made his senior breakthrough with his hometown club Bayern Munich and, after a two-year spell with Hamburg, returned to the Olimpiastadion in 1994 and became a firm fixture as ‘FC Hollywood’ won the UEFA Cup in 1996 - the same year he was part of the German side which won the European championships in England - along with three Bundesliga titles and two German Cups as the decade drew to a close.
The crowning glory should have come in Barcelona in 1999 when Babbel was part of the Treble-chasing Bayern side who were minutes away from Champions League final victory against Manchester United before two injury-time goals meant it was Alex Ferguson’s men who made history instead, although ironically the German could have been playing that night against his compatriots. The Old Trafford club agreed a reported £5m fee with Bayern having been impressed with his performances at Euro 96 but had been unable to agree personal terms.
“It was very close”, Babbel admitted. “At this time, it was a record fee, nobody had ever been signed for that fee before. It was 40 million German marks at the time, I was talking to United, but my agent said to me, 'listen Markus there is something wrong. They are willing to pay this much on your transfer fee, but your salary is ok, nothing more. With this money on the transfer fee, they should be paying a lot higher wages.'
“I said, ‘OK I don't have to leave if it's not right, I'm happy to stay at Bayern Munich’, it’s a fantastic club but afterwards with hindsight, I'm so happy it didn't happen. They wanted to sign me as a centre back, but I wasn't the best at centre back! In Germany, I always played with three at the back, so it was a different game for me: three versus two centre backs. The right side was the perfect position for me in that United back four, but they had Gary Neville, one of the greatest right-backs, at the time. I'm so glad I listened to my agent and waited to go to Liverpool.”
An increasing continental influence was being felt at Anfield as Houllier began his task of revolutionising the club to get to grips with the Premier League era and, midway through the Frenchman’s first season in sole charge after his ill-fated joint-manager experiment with Roy Evans, it was announced the 27-year-old had signed a pre-contract agreement to join Liverpool when his deal with Bayern expired in the summer of 2000.
"I'm very, very happy because you do not normally get players of his calibre on free transfers”, Houllier admitted. “When we were made aware he wouldn't sign a new contract for Bayern Munich obviously we showed some interest, who wouldn't? He is a player of quality and vast experience and one we have been interested in for the best part of two years. We tried to get him last summer but Bayern simply refused to sell him. We have beaten off competition from Real Madrid and from a number of leading Italian clubs. I think he'll do well in the Premiership; he is a winner and he has a very good character, which is important. I am pleased that he kept his word in the sense that he said he would like to come to us. I swear we haven't broken the wage structure to bring him here. He hasn't become the top earner at the club. I wouldn't do that. It is too dangerous for team spirit. He has always been a Liverpool fan and he has always followed this club's glory years.”
Babbel himself was ready for a new challenge after 16 years with Bayern and, having grown up watching and enjoying English football from afar, could not wait to get started with a club he had long admired.
"As a kid, I was always watching Liverpool on television in the great times of the Eighties", he said. "So I was very honoured when I got an offer from them and I didn’t have to think much about it, I just signed. I’d been in touch with Liverpool from 1998 onwards. It was always a dream for me to play in England. I never thought about Spain or Italy. It was mainly the tremendous atmosphere I wanted to experience. I had a taste of it in Euro 96, and the German players who have played in England always came back and told us amazing stories about the crowds and the buzz you get in the stadiums.
“When Liverpool came in for me I thought, ‘Oh my God, what a club, what a tradition’. I had an offer from Real Madrid to sign for them. I was on the way to the airport in Munich at 6am to fly to Liverpool to sign the contract when I heard on the radio that I was flying to Madrid to sign for Real. I had a smile on my face! In Liverpool, I had a good chat with Houllier and he explained what he wanted me to do and where I’d be playing. I had a good feeling about it. I went to a game and sat thinking, ‘I have to do it. This is exactly what I want.’ Liverpool is a big name, even in Germany, and everything was there. The atmosphere. How they were talking to me. I won’t lie. The money was top, too.”
It was another important summer of recruitment at Anfield as, despite a dismal end to the previous season which had seen Liverpool fade badly in the final five matches and miss out on the first ever qualification for the Champions League that had looked theirs for the taking, Houllier - having spent over £25m twelve months earlier on the likes of Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Dietmar Hamann and Vladimir Smicer - was backed again with Nick Barmby crossing Stanley Park to join from Everton for £6m, Babbel’s German team-mate Christian Ziege arriving from Middlesbrough for £5.5m and World Cup winner Bernard Diomede being signed for £3m from Auxerre. The aforementioned eyebrow-raising free signing of 35-year-old midfielder Gary McAllister, along with another Bosman deal for back-up goalkeeper Pegguy Arphexad, completed the influx of new blood and sent Reds fans into the new campaign enthused by the business done but wondering how long it might take for them all to gel and a dramatic first week highlighted the inevitability of teething problems as well as the marathon rollercoaster ride their team were about to take them on.
A goal on the opening day by club record £11m signing Emile Heskey, who had only arrived from Leicester City the previous March, secured an element of revenge for the final-day defeat by Bradford City three months earlier which had cost a top-three finish but defeat at Arsenal in a mad-cap game which saw Gary McAllister (on debut) and Dietmar Hamann among three red cards shown by referee Graham Poll was followed by a late collapse and draw at Southampton having been three goals in front.
Such inconsistency would be the tale of the tape for much of the first half of the campaign with decent league form at Anfield compromised with less effective performances and results away from home while Houllier’s men made steady progress in the UEFA and League Cups, the latter seeing Babbel notch his first goal in Liverpool colours during an 8-0 quarter-final win at Stoke City which he followed up against Charlton Athletic three days later with a first Premier League strike.
Babbel’s ability to slot straight into the back four had been a welcome feature of Liverpool’s patchy opening to the campaign and he would start 60 of the 63 matches the Reds played in all competitions during 2000/01. His reliability and know-how was increasingly appreciated by his team-mates as was his willingness to get involved in the dressing room with Robbie Fowler being among those who immediately took to the German and helped him settle in, later saying “The first moment Markus came into the dressing room, you could see he was a good lad. He wanted to mix straight away, he wanted to be part of the dressing room, which is highly important.”
"The only problem I had with Robbie was I couldn't understand him because he speaks a really hard Scouser English”, Babbel laughed. "But he was always trying to help. He was a bit different to the other English players - they were more reserved, like 'first we'll have a look at him, can he help us?' But Robbie was different. He saw the whole picture.
“The biggest problem in English football at that time was they were not 100 per cent professional. On the pitch, they gave everything. Outside the pitch, they loved a drink. But Houllier changed this. He took all the players out who loved to drink, and brought in many young players along with experienced guys like me, Didi Hamann, Jari Litmanen and Sami Hyypia. It was a good mix. In the beginning, the foreigners were a little bit outside of the English guys. I understand it – it was their club. Some of them came from Liverpool, so for them it was something special. To them, we were some foreigners who came in and got good money, but they didn’t know how much we’d help the team. With time, they saw that I was performing – not just coming in and taking the money. That, every game, I tried to bring 100 per cent. In the end, I had their respect.”
As the midpoint of the season approached, Houllier’s Liverpool were beginning to win respect with consecutive victories over the country’s pre-eminent sides, Manchester United and Arsenal, in the week before Christmas highlighting their progress, although a Boxing Day defeat at Middlesbrough showed the consistency the Frenchman preached as integral to his mission was still a work in progress as they headed into a new year which promised much and it was Babbel who ensured the iconic year of 2001 began on a winning note.
Steven Gerrard had underlined his own startling development which would see him named PFA Young Player of the Year months later with a spectacular 25-yard thunderbolt against Southampton to help ease the Anfield crowd’s New Year’s Day hangovers but, after Trond Egil Soltvedt equalised soon afterwards, they looked set to return with Houllier’s men unable to break down Glenn Hoddle’s obdurate Saints. Babbel, who had the week before despite his impressive introduction to English football described it as “brutal.. a type of gladiatorial warfare without the benefit of a closed safety helmet”, had received further evidence of that having had to leave the field for treatment after a kick on the ankle but - with Liverpool having already used all three substitutes - courageously re-emerged to support his team-mates and proved to be the match-winner, heading home from close range after Sami Hyypia flicked on Gary McAllister’s corner with just four minutes left to delight Houllier who admitted the German would not still have been on the pitch had he had any replacements left.
Babbel was forced to miss the start of Liverpool’s FA Cup campaign the following Saturday against Rotherham United but was back in the side for the next match as the Reds took on Crystal Palace in the semi-finals of the League Cup and by the end of the following month had his first Liverpool winners medal when Houllier’s men eventually saw off second-tier Birmingham City on penalties in the first final held at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium due to renovation of Wembley. It may not have been the most convincing of triumphs at the time but the German was in no doubt the crucial role that day in the Welsh capital played in what the Reds would go on to achieve in the following months.
“This was a very difficult game”, he acknowledged. “We were the favourites against a Championship team and there was so much pressure on us. You saw the game, it was a 50-50 game and we didn’t dominate them, they were fighting for everything. The most important final that year we won was Birmingham City in the League Cup, because if we didn’t win this final I’m not sure we could have won the FA Cup or UEFA Cup.”
Just days before ending the club’s six-year trophy drought, Liverpool had recorded their most impressive European result of the season by seeing off Fabio Capello’s AS Roma - who would go on to become Serie A champions that season - to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup where a comfortable victory over FC Porto set up a semi-final showdown with Spanish giants Barcelona. By this stage the Reds had already secured their second showpiece occasion of the season after beating Wycombe Wanderers at Villa Park to reach the FA Cup final to make Kopites start seriously dreaming about a treble but, with the campaign rapidly reaching an exhilarating conclusion, Houllier’s ultimate objective of Champions League qualification remained in some jeopardy.
A handsome home victory over Manchester United - Liverpool’s first league double over the Red Devils since 1979 - ahead of a creditable goalless draw in the first leg against Barcelona in the Camp Nou had put the Reds in pole position to grab the necessary third Premier League spot ahead of main contenders Leeds United and surprise challengers newly-promoted Ipswich Town but fixtures were beginning to inevitably pile up due to their cup exploits with the next two being against their two rivals for third spot. Barely 48 hours after reaching the FA Cup final, Houllier’s men had to travel to Portman Road with Emile Heskey’s goal only enough to secure a point before, three days later on Good Friday, David O’Leary’s Yorkshiremen won at Anfield to leave very little margin for error.
The Easter Monday programme sent the Reds to Goodison Park to take on Walter Smith’s relegation-threatened Everton in what turned out to be one of the most spectacular - and from the red half of the city’s point of view, memorable - Merseyside derbies in history. Duncan Ferguson had cancelled out Emile Heskey’s early opener before Babbel put Liverpool back in front just before the hour mark with his fifth goal of the season, finishing off a classic counter-attack led by Hamann and Fowler by crashing the ball home from the edge of the penalty area with an assured right-foot finish. Although the Blues would equalise seven minutes from the end after Robbie Fowler had missed the chance to extend the lead from the penalty spot and Igor Biscan had been sent off, Gary McAllister’s astonishing 44-yard free kick four minutes into stoppage time breathed new life and belief into tired Liverpool legs and minds, Houllier’s men riding the crest of the wave three nights later to beat Barcelona at Anfield and reach the club’s first European final since 1985.
The new-found momentum continued with wins over Tottenham, Coventry, Bradford and Newcastle before a frustrating home draw with Chelsea in the penultimate Premier League fixture but Houllier’s men knew their Champions League destiny was in their own hands if they could win on the final day of the season at Charlton. Before then though, history beckoned with two more finals and the chance of a never-before-achieved hat-trick of cup triumphs.
The Reds returned to South Wales to take on an Arsenal side desperate to make up for three successive Premier League runners-up spots and defeat in the UEFA Cup final to Galatasaray the previous May. Arsene Wenger’s Gunners took an early stranglehold on proceedings in Cardiff’s sun-kissed Millennium Stadium to such an extent that the only surprise when Freddie Ljungberg finally put them in front after 73 minutes was that it had taken so long. Liverpool’s exertions during the 60 previous matches they had slogged through along with the sweltering conditions seemed to have taken their toll and only desperate defending prevented Arsenal finding the killer second goal before a sensational turnaround in the final seven minutes.
Babbel’s stamina, determination and big-game temperament played a vital role in the equaliser, the German showing great upper body strength to hold off Gunners’ skipper Tony Adams as the ball dropped from Gary McAllister’s half-cleared free kick to nod down for Michael Owen to swivel and volley Liverpool back on terms before the England striker - who would later that year be awarded the hallowed Ballon d’Or trophy as Europe’s Footballer of the Year - scored a stunning solo winner two minutes from time to complete an unforgettable, if larcenous, fightback and take the trophy back to Anfield for the sixth time.
There was precious little time for celebration as four days later the UEFA Cup final loomed with Spanish minnows CD Alavez standing in the way of Liverpool and a third cup success of the season. With the game being staged at Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, Babbel returned to his homeland with his team-mates and helped Houllier’s men make the perfect start by nodding home the opener from a Gary McAllister free kick after only four minutes. When Steven Gerrard doubled the advantage soon afterwards, it seemed the Reds may spare their loyal followers any more unnecessary stress after the previous two nerve-jangling finals in Cardiff but they should have known better after the rollercoaster ride of the previous nine months and the Basques hit back to level at 3-3 early in the second half and then force extra time after substitute Robbie Fowler had put Houllier’s men back in front. Penalties seemed inevitable until Delfi Geli’s 117th-minute ‘Golden’ own goal secured a remarkable 5-4 victory, an unprecedented cup treble and a place in Anfield folklore for the German and his relentless if exhausted team-mates.
“It was so special for me with my family and friends there in a stadium like Dortmund”, he recalled. “The atmosphere was fantastic, even the fans from Alaves made a fantastic noise but they had no chance against our supporters. The problem for me was always that I’m a big fella, so it was always difficult for me to score goals because I was always marked by another big fella. But the good thing about this Spanish team was they were not so big, so I had a good chance to score a goal, and it was great to open the scoring in the game. But they had a lot of other qualities: they were very technical on the ball, very skilful. It was a very tough game. We had a fantastic team spirit. There was no one there who was not happy with their situation, and if they were, they didn’t tell us in the dressing room; they supported us. Sometimes it’s not always about having the best players; the most important thing is to have the best team. It was one of the best finals ever. I feel proud to have been part of it.”
There still remained one more hurdle to overcome with the final set of Premier League fixtures still to be played at the weekend and Liverpool knowing their one-point lead over Leeds United meant only a win at Charlton would guarantee a top-three finish and the Champions League qualification that had been the main objective when the season had begun nine long months ago. Their gruelling efforts seemed to have taken their toll in the first 45 minutes at the Valley with only a series of saves from goalkeeper Sander Westerveld preventing the hosts from going in front but it was a different story after the break, with Babbel again playing an important offensive role in addition to his defensive duties, flicking on Gary McAllister’s corner which was clawed out by Addicks’ keeper Sasa Ilic only as far as Robbie Fowler whose clever improvised overhead kick broke the deadlock, further goals from Danny Murphy, Fowler again and Michael Owen securing the 4-0 victory which proved the icing on the cake of one of Anfield’s most memorable and unlikely seasons which was finally able to be celebrated with hundreds of thousands of fans on an open-top bus tour the following day, much to Babbel’s delight.
“That drive home from London to Liverpool after beating Charlton was something special. Finally, we could celebrate properly. The celebrations in the city were unbelievable, I’ll never forget it. In this moment, I realised how big the club is. Liverpool is a big club, but on that Sunday when we were travelling on the bus, I saw how big the club is. I was so happy I could have that experience. It was one of the best times in my career. I never had this feeling before. I won titles with Bayern Munch and the German national team, but this was a different level for me. I’d never had this experience before: nearly one million people on the street, celebrating with you.”
Having contributed six goals in 60 starts during his first season of English football, Babbel was unquestionably one of the success stories - and largely unsung heroes - of Liverpool’s incredible campaign, his exploits on and off the pitch winning the admiration of the man increasingly garnering the majority of the headlines, Michael Owen, who said "His command of English has come on in leaps and bounds since he joined us. He’s quite a nifty mover off the field as well. At our victory party after the Worthington Cup Final against Birmingham, he was the first on the dance floor and the last to leave it."
Babbel was in no doubt however who was the primary architect of bringing joy back to Anfield after the best part of a decade in decline made more painful for the club’s supporters by Manchester United’s rise to prominence.
“Gerard Houllier was very important for Liverpool”, he said. “Many English players loved to go out partying and drinking. I always said he was like a lovely little Napoleon. Gerard was strict and focused on discipline. We had a good side, 13 or 14 players. We could beat anyone on our day but you needed better players from 14 to 20 in order to win a league. We didn’t have that depth.”
The respect and admiration was very much mutual at this stage with Houllier saying after Babbel’s first season at the club, "Markus Babbel's contribution needs to be highlighted. He had a difficult time at first as all foreign players do, but that only lasted for two or three games and since then he's been very steady. The players all love him here. He has proved a tremendous asset and he is a tremendous winner."
It was hoped the strength in depth Babbel referred to would be added to the squad and enable them to take that next step and challenge for the league title Liverpudlians had already spent over a decade craving. But, before the following campaign had truly begun in earnest, the German - who was still only 28 years old - began suffering symptoms of the mystery illness which would leave him a wheelchair for months and ultimately hamper the rest of his playing career after a sad and premature conclusion to his days at Anfield.
“After the Charity Shield against Manchester United I'd felt unusually tired but I thought it was something to do with the roof being closed and the air not being too good in the Millennium Stadium”, he recalled. “But after the Super Cup against Bayern Munich in Monaco I felt dead. I looked at myself in the mirror and saw I was white like a wall. I knew the doctor from Bayern Munich was very good, so I went to see him, ‘Ja, you look s***’. I went to Germany for some tests, and that’s when it started. I had the Epstein-Barr virus. A few months later, things got worse. The virus led to Guillain-Barré syndrome. This is something that affects the nervous system and can attack muscles all over your body.
“I was paralysed from the knees down, numb in my hands and had no sensation down one side of my face, but I was lucky. There were people hooked up to respirators, helpless and unable to do anything for themselves. It never occurred to me to ask, ‘F****** hell, why is this happening to me?' I still had hope. Being a professional footballer has taught me how to fight in training and out on the pitch. Nobody could tell me how long it would take to get better though. If you have a broken leg, you know it’s six months, plus or minus one or two. But the problem with this is that it changes. I was a different person to the next one – he was lying there for two years. I was only sitting in a wheelchair for five weeks. It was a very tough period, though. In this moment, you’d give everything away – all your money, all your success – just to come back healthy.”
With Houllier also suffering serious health problems that same autumn and needing an 11-hour heart operation after falling ill during a match with Leeds United, it would be the following spring before Babbel was able to tentatively return to training and the next season before he was anywhere near strong enough to be considered for selection but he admitted the experience had changed him as a person and led to behaviour which was never going to be conducive to reaching the standards he had previously set.
“I wasn’t the same person as before. I saw how quickly life can change, so I started to enjoy life. If you want to enjoy life and also want to be a professional footballer, this is not the best combination. I was going out a lot. Drinking a lot. Smoking a lot. I wasn’t professional. Also, in this time I got divorced from my first wife, so had many private problems as well. If you want to come back at the highest level, you need discipline. But, for one or two years, I couldn’t show this because I was living. I was really living.
“It was a problem for Liverpool. They saw me, a top professional who had played 60 games from 63 games, going out drinking and smoking. For them, too, it was very difficult. It took probably two and a half years for me to get back to being a bit more normal, but for me it was clear – if I want to come back to 100 per cent professional, then I had to leave the country. Because, as a single man, England is a paradise city. If you go out, it’s very easy to do stupid things.”
Although he came off the bench in the 2002 Charity Shield against Arsenal in Cardiff to make his first Liverpool appearance in almost a year, it was November before Houllier entrusted him with a start against Southampton in the League Cup and, while four consecutive starts followed later that month, the German was a shadow of his former self and an appearance in a League Cup quarter-final at Aston Villa the following month would be the 73rd and last of his senior Liverpool career, marked by a show of anger and dissent towards the bench when he was substituted.
Confined to the reserves, Babbel’s frustration boiled over with two sendings off for the Reds’ second-string including one for head-butting Everton youngster Michael Fynes and at the end of the season - which had begun with genuine hopes of building on the previous campaign’s second place finish but ended with failure to even qualify for the Champions League - Houllier, who in truth had never been the same since his illness either, told the German to he was no longer in his plans and to find another club while castigating him publicly for his attitude which only two years earlier he had been so full of praise for.
"It is not only because of the outburst during the Worthington Cup, but he has been sent off twice in the reserves”, Houllier said. “I took no action first time but I will fine him two weeks' wages for the incident against Everton which was unacceptable. He is no longer in my plans. When you have talent there is no question you are capable of doing well for your club, but the motivation has to be there too. The attitude has to be right but in this case it has not been right. I think the club has been very fair to Markus. We stood by him when he was ill and handed him a new contract, I am very disappointed with him.”
The German departed on loan for Blackburn Rovers, where he played 25 matches and scored three goals including one in a victory over old foes Everton, ahead of a return to Germany and three years with VfB Stuttgart, helping them win the Bundesliga in his final campaign even if he admitted he never felt back to 100 per cent and never fully regained feeling in his toes. He stayed with Stuttgart after retiring as a player initially becoming assistant manager and then head coach, leading them into the Champions League in 2009. Further spells in charge of German clubs Hertha Berlin and Hoffenheim followed before he moved to FC Luzern in Switzerland and his most recent role was with Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia.
Like with Houllier, it is impossible not to wonder how those early years of the 21st century would have panned out at Anfield had illness not intervened and, while Babbel could have been forgiven for not expecting more understanding from the Frenchman given his own health problems, he harboured no resentment for the sour way his three years at Anfield came to an end.
He paid an emotional tribute following Houllier’s death at the age of 73 in December 2021, expressing his gratitude to the man who he said made his Liverpool dream come true, adding “He built something big in Liverpool. Without him, Liverpool would not be the club it is today if Gerard hadn’t pushed it back then”, while also taking responsibility for his own actions which led to his fall-out with the Frenchman.
“If I could have had a few more years of football in my legs at such a beautiful club as Liverpool it would have been easier for me to accept. My first season at Anfield was amazing. It was just such a shame I got ill soon after. I would have given all my trophies and money away to be healthy again. I was lucky to come back but I couldn’t perform to the same level as before. I had some problems with the manager because my lifestyle wasn’t right. I was going out too much. It wasn’t his fault, it was my fault.”
