Liverpool defender Joël Matip will leave Anfield at the end of the season when his contract expires, the Premier League club announced on Friday.
The 32-year-old has spent eight years at Liverpool after joining from Schalke on a free transfer, helping the club to a string of trophies including the Champions League and Premier League. The former Cameroon international, who has made 201 appearances for the club, was one of manager Jürgen Klopp’s first signings, who will also depart at the end of the campaign.
“Throughout all the years I’ve been involved in football, I’m not sure I’ve met too many players more loved than Joël Matip. I’m not even sure it would be possible to say anything bad about him,” Klopp said. “A wonderful professional, a wonderful footballer, and a wonderful human being – we’ve been fortunate to have him with us for so long and now all we can do is wish him good luck as he goes in a new direction.
Joël’s qualities as a player are there for all to see and as a club, we’ve benefited from them since the moment he joined. I don’t think he’s made headlines over the years but he’s been nothing but a very famous figure within our group.
I’ve said before that if there was one person who wouldn’t care about being underrated, it would be Joël, but the truth is we couldn’t rate him any higher. Not only has he set standards for himself, but he’s set them for others and that’s one of the main reasons why his time here has been so successful.”
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