Former Chelsea superstar Arjen Robben has claimed his decision to leave Real Madrid to sign for Bayern Munich was the best decision he made in his career.
Former Real Madrid and Chelsea superstar Arjen Robben, who is about to enter his tenth season with Bayern Munich, has insisted that leaving Los Blancos to move to the German outfit was the best decision of his career.
Robben came up with Dutch Eredivisie side Groningen as a teenager before moving to PSV in 2002. He was then signed by Premier League giants Chelsea in 2004, where he won a couple of Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups.
In the summer of 2007, the former Dutch international was scooped up by Real Madrid for a fee reported to be in the range of €35 million. He went on to spend two years at the Spanish capital club, winning the La Liga title once before he left the Santiago Bernabeu to join Bayern Munich in 2009 in a €25 million deal.
Set to start his tenth season with the Bavarian giants, the 35-year-old, when asked if he thought he would have remained at the club this long, told the club’s official website, “No, I don’t think so – but then again, yes. I’m always a realist, and I know the world of football is fast-moving. It could have been different. After my debut as a pro for Groningen I was at Eindhoven for two years.”
“It was a big step for me in the Netherlands: to leave home at the age of 18. I went abroad when I was 20, three years at Chelsea, a big club. Then two years at Madrid. Then Bayern approached me and I made the decision. I was skeptical at the beginning, I didn’t know whether it was the right decision.”
“I can now say: it was the best decision in my career.”
Since joining Die Roten from Real Madrid, Robben has made 291 appearances for the club, netting 138 goals in the process. The 35-year-old has gone onto win seven Bundesliga titles – six of them in a row, along with four DFB Pokals and a UEFA Champions League trophy as well.
There were speculations that the retired Netherlands international would be leaving the German champions this summer, when his contract was about to expire. However, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid superstar signed on for another year with the club in May and is hoping for another trophy-laden year ahead.
When asked what he would like the headline to read come the end of the season in nine months, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea star replied, “It was a superb season from Bayern. They won everything there was to win. The played outstanding football, beating everyone.”
Bayern kick off the defence of their Bundesliga title with a game against TSG Hoffenheim at the Allianz Arena on Friday night.
