'It was exactly the right step' - Can credits decision to join Liverpool as turning point in career

Emre Can says his move to Liverpool in 2014 was a vital moment in his career, and one that he credits with getting him to where he is today.

Having broken through with Bayer Leverkusen after a move away from Bayern Munich, Can opted to move to England after just one consistent season in the Bundesliga.

Can joined Liverpool in the summer of 2014 when the Reds activated his release clause, and he rapidly became a major piece of the club's midfield.

In his four years on Merseyside, Can never made fewer than 37 appearances as he helped Liverpool reach a Europa League final and a Champions League final during his stay in England.

Last summer, Can made the move to Juventus, where he captured the Serie A title, and the German midfielder said many had doubts that his original move away from the Bundesliga would prove successful.

"I can still remember when I came to Liverpool," Can told DAZN/Goal. "I was only 20 years old and many people in Germany said, ‘Why is he doing that now? He is only 20, it is too early to go abroad'.

"But I was sure that I could make it there. I wanted to do that and because of that I went there and looking back it was exactly the right step.

"I proved myself there like in every team I have played in until now."

Just 25 years old, Can has already claimed five trophies in his club career, while also helping guide Germany to the Confederations Cup title in 2017.

But Can is already eyeing a move home to his boyhood club, Eintracht Frankfurt, at some stage in his career.

For now, though, he's happy with Juventus, where he made 36 appearances while scoring four goals in his debut season.

"I started to play football on the streets where I grew up in Nordweststadt, Frankfurt. At the beginning I played in the streets and then I always said to my parents that I want to go to a club," he said.

"At the first club there were too many kids already, they rejected me, and then at the second club, Blau-Gelb Frankfurt, I had two training sessions with kids my age, but they said ‘He is too good’ and I went to play with kids one year older than me.

"There it all began and I played at this club for six years, and after these six years Eintracht came. At 12 or 13 years old, I went to Eintracht and played there for three years.

"Of course Frankfurt will always be my city. My parents and my friends live there and I can imagine playing for Eintracht again one day.

"You never know what happens in football. You should never say never."