Beckenbauer: How the Germany legend almost joined Inter in 1966 

Almost a decade ago, two-time World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer revealed that he had an agreement to join Inter in the summer of 1966, but his pre-contract was terminated as a result of Italy’s shock exit at the World Cup in England. 

Beckenbauer died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday night at the age of 78, a statement from the family confirmed on Monday. 

Der Kaiser, who won the World Cup with West Germany as a player in 1974 and as coach in 1990, told German outlet Bild in 2014 that he had always dreamed of playing at San Siro. 

And, in 1966, aged just 20, Beckenbauer was presented with the opportunity to make that dream come true. Early that summer, the Nerazzurri had offered him a pre-contract, worth an impressive 900,000 German Marks. 

However, just a few weeks later, Italy were knocked out of the 1966 World Cup at the Group Stage, having lost to the USSR and North Korea. 

In response to Italy’s disappointing display on the world stage, a ban on foreign players being registered to Italian teams came into effect, a rule that lasted until 1980. Consequently, Beckenbauer never got his dream move to Inter. 

Reported via La Gazzetta dello Sport, Beckenbauer recalled: “Before the World Cup in England, I had signed a pre-contract agreement with Inter. I would have earned an incredible amount, I still remember it to this day. 900,000 German Marks. 

“Inter were a legendary team. They had players like Fachetti and Mazzola, and in the dugout, there was a titan in Herrera, who had convinced me to leave Bayern Munich. 

“The atmosphere of that stadium (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza) fascinated me. I wanted to play at any cost. 

“But Italy made a terrible impression at the World Cup. They were knocked out by North Korea. It was a scandal and as a result all purchases from abroad were blocked. My contract ended up in the trash, just like my dream.”

Beckenbauer later revealed that Milan had come in with an offer to bring him to San Siro the following summer, believing that the ban on foreign imports would soon be lifted. However, this was not the case and Beckenbauer was never able to realise his ambitions of playing in Italy. 

Instead, he stayed on with Bayern until 1977, later returning as coach in two separate stints. During his playing days with the Bavarian giants, he won three European Cups, four Bundesliga titles, four DFB-Pokals, and a European Cup Winners’ Cup. He later added a fifth league title while at Hamburg in 1981-92. 

On an individual level, Beckenbauer was awarded with the Ballon d’Or twice from five nominations, was included in the Bundesliga team of the season on 12 occasions, and made the World Cup team of the tournament in three consecutive editions from 1966 to 1974.