Former Liverpool centre-back Martin Skrtel has promised to visit his old club more now that he’s retired.
Skrtel called time on his playing career last year. After taking in an impressive eight-and-a-half seasons as a Liverpool player, he finally hung up his boots following a stint at Slovakian club Spartak Trnava.
And speaking to The Athletic about his decision to retire, the 38-year-old said he hoped it would give him the chance to visit Anfield more often.
“Liverpool will always be our second home. My son was born there. We have so many good memories from our time there. Liverpool will always be in our hearts,” Skrtel explained. “Unfortunately, during my days in Turkey (with Istanbul Basaksehir), I never got the chance to go back. Now I have more time, I’ll try to come back to Liverpool as much as possible.”
Skrtel also looked ahead to Saturday’s ‘Liverpool Legends’ game at Anfield, of which he’ll be part of the squad.
“I’m looking forward to playing at Anfield and seeing all the guys again,” he said. “One side of the coin is that we can play the game. The other side is raising a lot of money to help the foundation with the fantastic things they do helping people in the local area. It’s a small thing that we can do as ex-players to give back.”
Skrtel deserving of place in Anfield history
Some may – and do – scoff at Skrtel’s Liverpool career. To a portion of fans, he is a symbol of the mediocrity of the early 2010’s at Liverpool.
At the club for such a long stint and with only one solitary League Cup winners medal to his name, he wasn’t exactly part of a glorious period at Anfield. The Slovakian was also one of the first out of the door following Jurgen Klopp’s arrival.
But it would be unfair to minimise Skrtel’s contributions to Liverpool. He was part of two sides who came mightily close to ending Liverpool’s long drought without a league title and scooped the Player of the Season award in 2012.
To last such a long time during any era at Anfield is impressive and he deserves recognition for playing 320 times for the club.
His style of robust, traditional defending may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but Skrtel will always be welcome back at Anfield.