Joel Matip is reportedly considering retirement from football after leaving Liverpool in the summer. The 33-year-old, who transitioned from fan-favourite to cult-hero status with the Reds, remains a free agent after leaving the club. Three months on from his Anfield deal expiring, reports in Germany claim the defender's career as a footballer is all-but over. Matip is yet to publicly announce a decision on his future, such is the nature of a player so humble others have often spoken for him.
Jurgen Klopp paid a glowing tribute to one of his first Liverpool signings when the time came for him to say goodbye in May. "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," said Klopp. "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."
In keeping with the theme of those closest to Matip during his time at Liverpool, there's a need to shine a spotlight on one of football's biggest characters in recent memory if this is his low-key farewell to the game. Matip's Liverpool career was ended six months early after he tore his cruciate ligament in a madcap 4-3 win over Fulham in December. It meant the former Cameroon international spent over 700 days and missed over 130 matches during his eight years on Merseyside. Usually for a player with that severe an injury record their effect on their teammates and fans is understandably reduced. So it's stark the impact Matip had on and off the pitch that he is such a defining figure of the Klopp era at Anfield.
However, that rise to mainstream appreciation was a slow build, with fellow defenders Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold garnering most of the individual accolades. That started to change in the 2021/22 season, when after he starred against AC Milan in the Champions League, Klopp said: “Look, I cannot help people who don’t see the quality of Joel Matip.” In February 2022, Matip became the latest - and as it stands most recent - Liverpool defender to win the Premier League Player of the Month award, something club icon Jamie Carragher has never done. His Franz Beckenbauer-esque dashes out from defence had long earned him the affection of the Anfield faithful.
The centre-back was encouraged to be confident on the ball as a youngster by Schalke Under-19s coach, Norbert Elgert. The 67-year-old, who also mentored the likes of Mesut Ozil and Manuel Neuer, even played Matip for half a season as a striker. Matip’s ability on the ball led him to making his Schalke debut as a teenager against Bayern Munich in midfield where he was named man-of-the-match. And his flair for dribbling has led to many of his former teammates, including Van Dijk, baffled by FIFA 22's lowly rating of his skills. The Dutchman said: “68 dribbling? Are you kidding EA Sports? I'm starting a petition to have Joel Matip with 85 dribbling at least!”
Van Dijk, like many Liverpool fans, were as much in love with Matip for his personality as his defending on the pitch. Matip greatly endeared himself to Reds supporters for his part in the club's incredible 4-0 comeback win against Barcelona back in 2019. The centre-back hilariously revealed later that he ended up spending more time shadowing Lionel Messi that night than he meant to after the match. He told 11Freunde: “When I came into the doping test room, there was a guy sitting there pretty depressed – Lionel Messi. You know each other from the pitch, but it's not like you sit around with them every day in a small room like you're getting coffee. Everyone is celebrating, and I'm sitting in a cubicle with Messi.”
Matip never had a public Twitter or Instagram account during his time in England yet he arguably has the biggest social media presence on Merseyside. A month after one of his best games at Anfield against Barcelona, a page was set up called 'No Context Joel Matip', which posted his best moments. The platform once counted Van Dijk and Alisson Becker among its followers on its now defunct X account, and at its peak was also shared frequently on Liverpool's players WhatsApp group. Van Dijk, who Alex Oxlade-Chamberlan dubbed 'the main instigator' behind this behaviour, even pranked Matip by wearing one of the page’s custom t-shirts that had his teammate's face on it during a club photoshoot. Posts from 'No Context Joel Matip', which still exists among a 32,000-strong following on Instagram, included everything from the defender dancing to his frustration at refereeing decisions. His antics also extended to playfully slapping Jordan Henderson on the back of the head in a 2-0 win against Inter Milan and a Randy Orton-esque celebration in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle in 2022.
The man himself told Liverpool.com in 2019: "It's funny and I think I make a lot of people laugh, so it's not too bad. I can laugh about myself, that's absolutely no problem. I'm looking at this and I say, 'Ah, that's quite funny'." Matip's lack of online presence did leave him open to being pranked - as was the case while he attended England’s Euro 2024 opener. Matip was a guest of Joe Gomez as the Three Lions beat Serbia 1-0 in June at the home of his former club Schalke in Gelsenkirchen. While watching the game as a fan, the centre-back unknowingly posed for a picture with an Arsenal-supporting OnlyFans star called Leah Ray. “Got this guys number last night at the game, said that he plays for Liverpool Is this true guys??” Ray wrote on her X account. She was soon bombarded with Liverpool fans in her comments defending his innocent nature - even after he'd left the club.
Few could have expected that of Matip when he joined a defence consisting of Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan. Three years later, he grabbed an assist in a Champions League final as part of a glittering trophy haul in his Anfield tenure. Matip also helped the Reds to win the Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup and UEFA Super Cup during his time at the club. And if this is officially the end of his time as a player then he's forever etched his name among the legendary defenders on Merseyside. Matip once told the Times: “If you’re going to surprise people, better do it in a positive way.” Cult hero? “It is not the worst thing I heard.”
