Liverpool pay tribute to Joel Matip, 33, as defender confirms retirement

Joel Matip has confirmed his retirement from football just months after leaving Liverpool following the expiry of his contract at the end of June.

The gangly central defender, who won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, two League Cups, the Club World Cup and Super Cup during an eight-year spell with the Reds, has now decided the time is right to hang up his boots.

Matip suffered a serious ACL injury last December in a 4-3 win over Fulham and has been continuing his recovery after undergoing successful surgery.

But despite talks with several Bundesliga clubs including champions Bayer Leverkusen, he has called time on his playing career at the age of 33.

He made 201 appearances on Merseyside and was one of the unsung heroes of Jurgen Klopp's regime after signing on a free transfer from Schalke in 2016.

Matip also made 27 appearances for Cameroon before retiring from international duty in 2016 having featured for his country at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, respectively.

Liverpool have now paid tribute to their former player, writing in a post on the club's website: "Everybody at LFC wishes Joel and his family the very best for the future."

He is the second Liverpool player to retire following their Anfield release this summer after midfield maestro Thiago Alcantara also followed suit following a long battle with injuries.

Klopp previously paid tribute to Matip and his contribution to Liverpool's success under his stewardship back in May, stating: “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,” said Klopp to the 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.”