Lahm
Ex-Germany captain Philipp Lahm lifted the World Cup in Brazil Getty

Germany's World Cup winning star Philipp Lahm has revealed that he turned down an offer from Manchester United and Barcelona to continue at Bayern Munich.

The 31-year-old came up through the ranks of the Bundesliga club's youth academy. He has been one of the big name players at the club after being in impressive form since returning from a two-year loan spell at Stuttgart in 2005.

Lahm's display for Bayern had earlier seen him attract interest from the 20-times English champions, while the La Liga giants Barcelona were interested in landing the versatile player.

The Bayern star admitted that he considered leaving his current employers to make a switch to England or Spain. However, he decided against the transfer and has expressed his delight to reject the opportunity to join either United or Barcelona.

"Yes, as a player you always think about your options, and there was a time where Manchester United made an approach for me - and Barcelona looked at me too - so I considered life in England or Spain," Lahm told Squwaka.

"The Premier League was an interesting possibility. But in the end I decided to stay in Germany.

"Bayern is my home town club and I thought good things could happen for the club, so I signed on for more years, and it proved to be the right decision."

"I felt we had the chance to win the Champions League, and I was right. I'd rather win it with my club, my home town team, than with any other. So England might have been nice - but I am glad I stayed in Germany," the former German international stressed.

After finishing as the runners up in the Champions League in 2010 and 2012, he went on to win the treble, including Europe's elite club competition in 2012/13 season under the guidance of Jupp Heynckes.

Since Pep Guardiola took over the managerial role at the Allianz Arena, Lahm has been converted from a full-back into a defensive midfielder and has excelled in his new role.