Early years and Schalke 04 Born in
Sömmerda,
Bezirk Erfurt,
East Germany, Linke began playing football in 1977 with local BSG Robotron Sömmerda. In 1983, he transferred to
FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, eventually making the breakthrough into the first team in 1989; with the latter, he had the opportunity to gain experience by playing in the
DDR-Oberliga. After finishing third in the last year of the competition, the club was placed into the newly consolidated
2. Bundesliga in 1991, as part of the
German reunification process. Linke was a starter throughout
the season but was ultimately unable to prevent it from being relegated, while also appearing in four
games in the
UEFA Cup. During Rot-Weiß Erfurt's
German Cup win over
FC Schalke 04, the latter team's management took notice of Linke and signed him for
the following campaign. He quickly earned his way into the starting line-up and, from 1992 until 1998, appeared in a total of 175
Bundesliga games for the
Royal Blues, his debut coming on 1 September 1992 in a 0–0 home draw against
SV Werder Bremen. Linke's crowning achievement during his tenure with Schalke was the
penalty shootout win over
Inter Milan, in the
1996–97 UEFA Cup. He appeared in 11 matches during the victorious run, scoring twice.
Bayern Munich In 1998, Linke joined national giants
FC Bayern Munich, where he would go on to experience the most successful chapter of his professional career. In
his first season, he scored his first goal for the
Bavarians in a 3–1
derby home win over
TSV 1860 München on 7 November, but would also start in
the notorious UEFA Champions League final against
Manchester United. With Bayern, Linke won five leagues, three German Cups and four
league cups, in addition to the 2001 editions of the
Champions League and the
Intercontinental Cup. In
the final of the former, he scored the final penalty to give his team the victory in the shootout against
Valencia CF. Since first joining Bayern, numerous critics prophesied that Linke would never be able to hold on to his starting spot in the center of defense. The player made it a point to prove his critics wrong by continually impressing with solid, if unspectacular, performances. Not until
his last year, under coach
Felix Magath, did he end up losing his starting role to
Croatian
Robert Kovač, appearing in only 11 games but helping in another league conquest.
Red Bull Salzburg during the game against
FKA Vienna, 18 September 2005 At the beginning of
2005–06, 35-year-old Linke made the decision to extend his playing career by transferring to the
Austrian Bundesliga, linking up with newly re-tooled
FC Red Bull Salzburg alongside former Bayern teammate
Alexander Zickler. Soon after arriving, he was appointed
team captain, and became a regular fixture. During
his second season, he added one last piece of silverware to his extensive collection by winning the league; on 3 May 2007, the club informed him that his initial two-year contract would not be extended.
Final years On 13 June 2007, aged almost 38, Linke agreed to a Bayern return, linking with the club's
amateur side in the
third division. In early 2008, he re-joined Salzburg, serving as assistant to
director of football Heinz Hochhauser and subsequently retiring from playing. ==International career==