Nerlinger was born in
Dortmund. He signed for
FC Bayern Munich at the age of 13, completing his formation at the
Bavarian side. He was promoted to the first team in 1992, but made no
Bundesliga appearances in
his debut season. In
the following campaign, Nerlinger's impact, in a midfield which also comprised
Jorginho,
Lothar Matthäus,
Mehmet Scholl and
Christian Ziege, was immediate, and he helped the eventual champions by finishing as the second top scorer in the squad with nine goals – a career-best in the German top-flight – only behind Scholl and
Adolfo Valencia's 11; he made his competition debut on 7 August 1993, in a 3–1 home win against
SC Freiburg. After another four solid seasons, Nerlinger moved to hometown club
Borussia Dortmund, where he began suffering with injuries; this situation would be worsened in the following years, as he could hardly get a game at any of his following two clubs, Scotland's
Rangers and
1. FC Kaiserslautern (he reunited with former Bayern teammate
Carsten Jancker in the latter), forcing to his retirement from the game in December 2005. ==International career==