Liverpool legend and Champions League winner announces shock retirement aged just 33 after three months unemployed

FORMER Liverpool star Joel Matip has retired from football at the age of 33.

The centre-back quits football after spending the last three months unemployed.

Matip joined Liverpool in 2016 and spent a glittering eight years at Anfield.

He made 201 appearances for the club and formed a formidable partnership with Virgil van Dijk.

Matip helped fire Jurgen Klopp’s men to six trophies including the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

The Cameroon international left Merseyside at the end of last season when his contract expired.

His last appearance came in a 4-3 win over Fulham in December 2023 after he suffered an ACL injury.

Matip did not find a new club over the summer despite reports linking him with moves to West Ham and Bournemouth.

And the ex-Schalke star has now decided to hang up his boots for good.

Liverpool said in a statement: “Everybody wishes Joel and his family the very best for the future.”

FOOTBALL FREE BETS AND SIGN UP DEALS

Fans reacted: “This is way too soon, he could still play at the top level.”

Another added: “One of the most underrated centre-backs in the Premier League over the past five seasons.”

More commented: “No way, he was genuinely a top top player just two seasons ago.”

Klopp praised Matip before he left Liverpool, saying: “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.

“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.”

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk