There can be no doubting Ziege's quality as a footballer, but the controversy that surrounded his move to Liverpool at the start of the century would eventually make his short stay on Merseyside far from worth its while. Signed from Middlesborough in the summer of 2000, Ziege was a top quality left-back. He had won Euro 96 with Germany four years previously, and he was someone that then Reds boss Gerard Houllier thought would be a terrific addition to the side. As soon as he joined the Reds, however, the move was clouded in controversy. Middlesborough claimed the club had made an illegal approach for the 28-year-old German, and Liverpool were subsequently fined £20,000 by the Football Association for their behaviour. The player was fined £10,000 too. All this effort to sign the German ended up proving completely pointless, in truth. He lasted just one season at Liverpool, and never gave the kind of consistent, top class performances many were expecting. Knee injuries halted his progress, while the emergence of a young Jamie Carragher as a makeshift left-back also kept Ziege out of the team. Although the Reds won a magnificent cup treble during Ziege's only year at the club, he had given very little to the cause. He made just 16 appearances in the Premier League, and 32 in all competitions, before being sold to Tottenham in the summer of 2001.
