Next month, Max Meyer will celebrate his 27th birthday.
And it’s unlikely the four-time Germany international envisaged himself playing across the border in Switzerland at such a stage of his career.
Meyer should be a footballer rapidly approaching his peak. When he was exploding onto the scene at Schalke – labelled the ‘German Messi’ by some and compared to Marco Verratti by former team-mate Leon Goretzka – it seemed only a matter of time before Meyer was following in the footsteps of fellow Veltins Arena graduates Mesut Ozil and Leroy Sane.
Per BILD, Tottenham Hotspur were willing to pay £40 million for a 20-year-old Meyer back in 2016. Such a fee would have made him the most expensive player in Spurs’ history; a remarkable show of faith in such a young player. Daniel Levy, after all, does not break the bank often.
“He would be a starter and captain at 90 per cent of national teams,” Jurgen Klopp even said at the time, with his Borussia Dortmund side looking to snatch the twinkle-toed playmaker from their Ruhr rivals.
Klopp will be as surprised as anyone, then, to see Meyer rock up at a team sitting seventh in the Swiss Super League at the age of just 26.
What has happened to one-time Tottenham Hotspur target Max Meyer?
“With Max Meyer, we’re able to sign a player who has a lot of experience,” says FC Luzern’s sporting director Remo Meyer. “An ideal addition to our squad
“We are convinced that we can benefit from Max’s qualities. And that, in return, Max can give his career new impetus.
“I wanted to re-orient myself,” Meyer adds. “In the discussions, I was able to convince myself of the ideas that the team and I had.”
Perhaps the Luzern director said it best. Meyer is a footballer in need of a ‘new impetus’.
He struggled to justify a staggering £170,000-a-week contract at Crystal Palace. And, during spells at Koln, Fenerbahce and Midtjylland, he managed a combined total of just 24 league appearances across two seasons.
Luzern is not quite a ‘last chance saloon’ situation. But how many more chances does Meyer have to prove that he still has something to offer?
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