Don't miss the big Liverpool FC stories by getting our newsletter Sign me up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

NURI SAHIN insists it was the vision he was sold by Brendan Rodgers rather than the promise of a bumper pay day which convinced him to join Liverpool FC.

The 23-year-old midfielder is set to make his debut at Anfield tomorrow against the club he snubbed in favour of joining the Reds from Real Madrid on a season-long loan deal.

Arsenal believed the lure of Champions League football would enable them to come out on top in the battle for Sahin’s services last week.

But they failed to secure his signature and Rodgers took full advantage.

The Gunners have since claimed that they walked away due to financial reasons with both Madrid and the player banking more from Liverpool’s proposal.

However, the Turkey international says if he was motivated by lining his pockets he wouldn’t have ended up at Anfield.

“Money? You don’t know me very well if you think I would go for money,” said Sahin.

“If it was about money I wouldn’t be here. I had quite a lot of offers that would have allowed me to earn three times as much as I will earn here.

“I’m 23-years-old and I don’t care about money. I know that I will earn a lot of money in my career if everything goes well and it would be impossible in my situation and in my mind to put money above playing football.

“I could have gone to many places and earned much more than here. The only reason I am here is that I know that I can play football here.

“I know that I have a manager who trusts in my game and the way I play and I am at a huge club. That is why I am here.”

Having agreed with Madrid boss Jose Mourinho that he would head out on loan, Sahin initially set his sights on joining a Champions League club.

But after holding talks with Rodgers he was attracted to Anfield by the prospect of helping to guide the Reds back into Europe’s elite this season.

“Mourinho didn’t tell me to go here or there. He told me about English football and said that I would love the Premier League because it is the best league in the world, but I made my own mind up about Brendan Rodgers,” he said.

“The manager told me about his thinking about how his team is going to play football and about how he sees me fitting into the team. We talked a lot about football. He just impressed me and here I am.

“The important thing for me is how he wants his team to play is the same as how I want to play.

“It is a big challenge to take Liverpool back to where they belong. It will be difficult to get into the top four but we have such quality in the squad and with the new manager we can play some good games.

“The challenge for us will be to hold down the quality over 38 games but we are here to go for it.

“As a team we can become heroes. It’s been three seasons for this club without playing in the Champions League. To bring back those nights will be perfect for everyone here.”

Sahin says there are similarities between Rodgers and his former boss Jurgen Klopp, who transformed Borussia Dortmund’s fortunes following his appointment in 2008.

The highly-rated German coach inherited a squad which had finished 13th in the Bundesliga but within three seasons they were champions with Sahin instrumental in their success.

Taking Liverpool back to the summit of English football is arguably a much tougher task for Rodgers, but the midfielder believes what has been achieved at Dortmund shows it can be done.

“When I spoke to my family, I told them that Brendan Rodgers is a bit like Jurgen Klopp in the way that he thinks about football,” he said.

“Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool are similar as well. The people are crazy about the clubs, the stadiums are fantastic and the way they want to play football with a high tempo and high level passing that is also similar so that made my decision easier.

“I know the quality in England is very high. There are the Manchester teams and the London teams but the German league is also very difficult to win.

“At Dortmund we were a team. In Klopp’s first season we were sixth, then the next season we were fifth. Then we became champions and last season Dortmund were champions again.

“That’s because of a long-term project and I think Brendan Rodgers will bring his mind about football to Liverpool. As a club, and with the supporters, there will be only one way and that is up.”

Sahin’s affection for Liverpool dates back to one of the greatest nights in the club’s history – the miracle of Istanbul. He was at the Ataturk Stadium back in 2005 to see the Reds’ stunning comeback against Milan.

For the next nine months Sahin will benefit from the remarkable support he witnessed that night.

“We were the Under 17 European champions with Turkey and were invited by the Turkish FA and we were sitting where the Liverpool fans were sitting,” he said.

“At half-time it was 3-0 and the people were crying. I saw one guy calling his family and crying.

“Then Dietmar Hamann comes on and the game changes. At 3-1 people said ‘maybe’, then at 3-2 it was just crazy and after that I had goosebumps.

“I knew Liverpool would win and also the football god was with Liverpool when Shevchenko missed a chance he would score 99 times out of 100.

“On this night when I saw Steven Gerrard with the Champions League trophy I thought I want to win this cup one day.

“It’s amazing to think I’ll be playing for those fans now. Seeing a comeback like that gives everyone inspiration.

“We all thought ‘what is this? This is real football, this is why we love football’. If you think of legendary games, this is the game you think about and I’m happy to say I was there.”