Dietmar Hamann (Midfielder)
Date of birth: 27.8.73
Squad number: 16
Height: 6'2" (1.90m)
Weight: 12st 9lb (80kg)
Characteristics: Gifted midfielder widely tipped as future captain of Germany
Former club: FC Wacker Munchen, Bayern
Munchen, Newcastle United
Birth Place: Waldasson, Bavaria
German midfielder Dietmar Hamann was the final piece in Gérard
Houllier's Liverpool jigsaw when he became the club's seventh summer signing for a reported fee of £8 million in July 1999.
Once he expressed a wish to leave Newcastle United Houllier was quick
to register his interest in the midfielder, hoping he might fill the gap left by Paul Ince following his departure to Middlesbrough. With Arsenal
having an offer rejected by Newcastle, and with Hamann not interested in a move back to Germany Liverpool were able to quickly secure the
signature of a player who impressed during his one season in the
Premiership with Newcastle. Despite a disappointing season at St James'
Park for Newcastle followers, Hamann's performances were often top class and his ability to score goals allied with his vision and ability to
tackle earmarked him as just the sort of player needed in the Liverpool team.
Having won honours in his five years with Bayern Munich, Hamann felt
his career needed a change of direction and so signed for Newcastle at the beginning of the 1998/99 season. But after one season in the north
east he felt it was time to move on and was quick to pledge his future to Liverpool.
Sadly for Hamann, and for Liverpool, he sustained ankle ligament damage on the opening day of the 1999/2000 season at Sheffield
Wednesday and the club's worst fears were confirmed when the medical experts predicted he would be out of action for at least a couple of
months. On the positive side, Hamann's enforced absence gave him the chance to spend some time with his wife in Germany where she was
expecting their second child.
Once recovered, however, he lost no time in beginning to assert himself
as a calm, assured and quietly influential presence in the Liverpool midfield.