Ex-Arsenal star is now renovating homes after going back to his ‘first love’
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Ex-Premier League shot stopper Alex Manninger, 46, has gone back to his 'first love' after walking away from the beautiful game.
Manninger joined Arsenal back in 1997, from Austrian side Grazer AK, and he went onto make 63 first team appearances at the Gunners. And during his time in England the Austrian won the double with the Gunners.
The shot-stopper would go onto have a storied career across Europe, and he briefly returned to these shores with Liverpool in 2016. However, Manninger felt his calling in life was elsewhere, and he now has his own renovation business in his native Austria.
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Speaking to TMW, he said: "I went back to my first love, did you know I was a carpenter before I became a footballer?
"Obviously we do something bigger now, because you do not go far to be a carpenter only. But this experience and the acquired knowledge have allowed me to deal with furnishings, construction.
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"I have created a network with professionals, who are carpenters, masons, gardeners. I find myself with architects.
"Basically if you have land or a house to renovate, then with new furniture and new windows I'll take care of it. It's a job that I really enjoy." Manninger is also a real estate investor, and he has significant holdings in Meininger Hotels. It's quite the change of pace for a man who was once selected for Austria at their home Euros in 2008.
Manninger had fallen off the radar of many Premier League fans, before he rocked up at Liverpool, aged 39, in 2016. He joked: "I’ve still got something left, for sure, but obviously it’s probably not the time for me to push for the next three or four years to get a place in the goal.
"Because time says it’s not possible to play 50 games a year. But if I’m called up, I’m definitely there for games, I will play. And I’ll definitely be in the changing room every game, giving my input; I hope, even if it’s only a couple of per cent, it will do the rest."
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