Arsenal defender Shkodran Mustafi has said he opted to join Hamburg ahead of Bayern Munich as a teenager.
Mustafi, a World Cup winner with Germany in 2014, told Sport Bild: "I had trials at Hamburg, Eintracht Frankfurt, Werder Bremen and even FC Bayern. My father asked me where it suited me best, so I opted for HSV."
Mustafi spent three years at Hamburg as a youngster before signing for Premier League club Everton in 2009, but the 24-year-old failed to breakthrough on Merseyside, making only one first team appearance as a substitute in two-and-a-half seasons.
He enjoyed a more productive spell in Serie A with Sampdoria, before Arsenal secured his services in the summer from Valencia for a reported fee in the region of €41 million.
Mustafi, a devout Muslim, said his faith is "very, very important" to him.
The Arsenal defender is one of six Muslims in the current German national squad, alongside club teammate Mesut Ozil, Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City), Emre Can (Liverpool), Sami Khedira (Juventus) and Karim Bellarabi (Bayer Leverkusen).
"Religion isn't a big deal within the team or the DFB [German FA], but there's Halal meat at the team buffet," he said. "I do try and arrange my life according to my faith but it's not always that easy to pray five times a day when away on Champions League duty.
"I definitely want to travel to Mecca at some stage. Every Muslim should do that once in their lifetime."