Joel Matip 'makes' retirement decision after Liverpool exit as surprise new role confirmed
Joel Matip left Liverpool in the summer following the expiration of his contract
Former Liverpool defender Joel Matip has retired from professional football, according to reports. The 33-year-old has been a free agent since departing the Reds last summer.
According to Ruhr Nachrichten, a local news outlet that covers Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, the Cameroon centre-back has personally ruled out a return to football as he creeps into his fourth month of being unattached.
Matip saw his season with the Reds curtailed after suffering a knee injury during Liverpool's dramatic win over Fulham at Anfield, in December. The defender was a mainstay under former boss, Jurgen Klopp, after the German utilised his knowledge of the Bundesliga to snap up the Schalke defender on a free, following the expiry of his contract in Gelsenkirchen.
The Liverpool defender was a part of the squads that won the Premier League and Champions League, as he joined the likes of Thiago Alcantara as players leaving upon the end of their deals on Merseyside. Ahead of his departure, Klopp penned an emotional message to the 33-year-old.
"In all the years that I have been involved in football, I am not sure I have come across too many players who are more loved than Joel Matip. I’m not even sure it would be possible to say anything bad about him," he said speaking to the official club website.
"A wonderful professional, a wonderful footballer and a wonderful human being – we have been blessed to have him with us for as long as we have and now all we can do is wish him well as he heads off in a new direction.
"Joel’s qualities as a player are there for all to see and as a club, we have benefited from them since the first moment that he joined. I don’t think he has had too many headlines over the years but he has only ever been a very famous figure within our group.
"I have said before that if there was one person who wouldn’t care if he was underrated it would be Joel, but the truth is we could not have rated him more highly. Not only has he set the standards for himself, he has set them for others and this is one of the main reasons why his time here has been so successful."
Since leaving Liverpool, there have been reports of Matip returning to Schalke - who now play in the German second tier - as well as courting interest from Hamburger SV.
It has been claimed that since leaving the Premier League, Matip has returned to Germany and his home in Gelsenkirchen. Marking his comeback to the region, while looking for a football club for his son, the former centre-back enrolled his son into the SSV Buer and even offered his hand at coaching.
The local football club's local Instagram account revealed that they have had to stop accepting children joining the team after the 33-year-old took up a minor role. The post read: "From the REDS to the ROTHOSEN: Joel Matip trains our SSV kindergarten!
"No April fool on the 3rd October! The 2019 Champions League winner assisted as co-coach Benjamin Reclik (from the D4 coaching team). Joel (33) returned to his home in Gelsenkirchen in the summer after eight very successful years at FC Liverpool.
"He and his wife were looking for a nearby football club for their little son - the choice (logically) fell on SSV Buer. Joel also immediately offered to help with the training.
"Which of the little red pants in 2020 will probably know which prominent coach they have in front of them? Joel was in FC Schalke 04. from 2000-2009. In November 2009, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for S04 with Bayern Munich.
"A total of 16 years he played for the Knappen - in 2011 he won the DFB Cup together with Raul, Neuer, Höwedes & Co. He played for Cameroon in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. Jürgen Klopp joined the Reds in 2016, where he won everything there was to win: 2019 Champions League, 2020 Champions League, 2022 Cup winner, 2022 League Cup winner, 2022 Super Cup winner."Since the news went around that Joel is training the little ones, of course the urge has been great. Youth director Carsten Weber expressly emphasises that we can no longer accept children. Thank you Joel!"