'I won the Champions League with Madrid after leaving Liverpool – but I felt like an impostor'

Steve McManaman admits he felt like a “crook” during his time at Real Madrid, even though he played more than 150 matches for the team and won six major trophies. The 52-year-old former footballer was only the second Englishman to join Los Blancos, having left his boyhood club Liverpool in 1999.

In his first season with the Spanish giants, he won the Champions League title and scored the second goal in their 3-0 win over Valencia in the final. However, amid the post-match celebrations, the Bootle native couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place.

“I knew what it meant to play for Liverpool…I didn't understand the complexities [of playing for Real Madrid]”, McManaman said on the We Are Liverpool podcast. “When I was playing for Madrid, a lot of Spanish language and the Spanish newspapers, I didn't really get much out of it, because I didn't understand the language.

“I remember we had just won the Champions League and I had only been at the club for 10 months, and the guys were in the dressing room singing Spanish songs and lifting the president in the air,” he continued. “I [joined in]but I just felt like a bit of an imposter. I did it. Because they're all singing these Spanish songs and I was like, “That's just weird.”

“I took my phone and I went out of the dressing room and I walked down the hallway, I sat on the floor and I listened to the messages… But I wasn't in the dressing room to do the party, because I thought it was just a weird party.

“I remember thinking, 'I would have loved to do that with Liverpool', because I would have been at the forefront of it all, I kind of knew all the words and really got into it. I was very present on all the peripheries. [Madrid] celebrations simply because I didn't understand. »

During his four years at the Bernabeu, McManaman won two Champions League titles, two La Liga championships, the UEFA Super Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. He was a key member of Real Madrid's legendary Galacticos era, playing alongside icons such as Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane.

Even today, the former England midfielder remains a beloved figure among the club's fans. While McManaman found success on the field almost immediately, his transition off the field was more difficult. He candidly shared that his first year in Spain was marked by loneliness, but he eventually adapted thanks to the advice of former Liverpool player Michael Robinson, who spent several years as a player at Spanish club D 'Osasuna.

McManaman's time at Madrid helped pave the way for other English players, including David Beckham, Michael Owen, Jonathan Woodgate and Jude Bellingham, who became the third, fourth, fifth and sixth Englishmen to sign for Real Madrid . It now looks likely that Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold will become number seven in 2025.

The 26-year-old has just six months left on his contract with Liverpool and has already informed the club of his intention to sign with Los Blancos once his contract is concluded at the end of the season. If the transfer happens, he will become the third player to move directly from Liverpool to Real Madrid, following in the footsteps of McManaman and Owen.