Koln Goalkeeper Timo Horn Reveals Why He Turned Down Liverpool Ahead of Arsenal Europa League Clash

Koln goalkeeper Timo Horn says he rejected interest from Liverpool as a teenager because training in Germany was more appealing.

Horn became Koln's first choice goalie in 2012 and has gone on to make over 150 appearances in all competitions, also gaining recognition at age group level with Germany.

The 24-year-old used the example of Ron-Robert Zieler, who spent an unsuccessful campaign with Leicester last season, to show why he has rejected the advances of Premier League sides so far in his career.

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He told the Independent: “At the age of 15 or 16, Liverpool were very interested in me. 

"But I didn’t go there because I felt the goalkeeping schooling in Germany was much better and I had enough examples, for instance Ron-Robert Zieler who came back after a year [at Leicester], and that’s why I stayed in Koln. It definitely wasn’t the wrong decision!”

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Horn also talked about Koln's upcoming Europa League fixture against Arsenal, stating how surreal it will be after facing the Gunners in a pre-season fixture a few years ago.

He added: “It was hard to imagine that we’d ever play against Arsenal in a competitive fixture. To be taking them on in the Europa League a few years later... we could never have predicted that.

“I’ve always thought of Arsene Wenger as a fantastic manager.

“I like the football culture in England and Arsenal just had something in my view that the other teams didn’t have. I’ve always enjoyed the style of football they try to employ even if they haven’t won that many titles.”