Liverpool have seen so many legendary players leave the club over recent years.
From luminaries such as Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Jordan Henderson through to cult heroes like Divock Origi and Fabinho, they have all now departed.
Between them, they all made up one of the greatest Liverpool squads in the history of the club. But when supporters look back on the iconic Jurgen Klopp team of 2018-2022, some may briefly forget to mention Joel Matip.
That won’t bother the centre-back a bit, he is about as humble a football player as you could ever meet. But in the midst of time his desire to stay out of the spotlight could mean that Matip’s legacy might be forgotten.
In some ways, the 33-year-old has already been left behind. It has been a shame to see him struggle to find a club since leaving Liverpool over the summer.
But in a typically under the radar Matip move, it turns out that the Cameroonian has actually made his way back into the game after all.
Joel Matip joins amateur sports club
The way we see it, Matip is a Liverpool legend. The stringy defender was arguably Virgil van Dijk’s best partner during his time at the club and never truly got the plaudits he deserved.
But for injuries, that might have been different. Ultimately, though, Matip’s body couldn’t quite hold up.
There were suggestions that Matip was even ready to retire this summer after picking up an ACL injury in December last year. So far, that seemingly hasn’t come to pass, not officially anyway.
However, having earned his badges while at Liverpool it did seem possible that Matip could make the move into coaching.
And, although it is seemingly not in an official capacity, that has now happened. According to Gelsenkirchen based sports club SSV Buer on Instagram last week, Matip has offered to coach the children of the club after enrolling his own child.
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“From the REDS to the ROTHOSEN: Joel Matip trains our SSV kindergarten!” SSV Buer wrote.
“No april fool on the 3rd October! The 2019 Champions League winner assisted as co-coach Benjamin Reclik (from the D4 coaching team).
“Joel (33) returned to his home Gelsenkirchen in the summer after eight very successful years at FC Liverpool. His wife and he were looking for a nearby football club for their little son – the choice (logically) fell on SSV Buer. Joel also immediately offered to help with the training.”
What next for Joel Matip?
It remains to be seen whether Matip takes his coaching seriously or whether he does indeed look for a new professional club.
The former Cameroon international should be right at the end of his recovery from injury at the moment and could soon be ready to play again.
And according to BILD on Thursday, boyhood club Schalke are still ‘dreaming’ of signing Matip back up.
Schalke are currently struggling in the German second division but are said to have held talks with Matip over the summer. Typically, the former Liverpool man said no at the time, though, reportedly wishing to spend time with his family instead.
It’s claimed that the Royal Blues have not given up on Matip, however, and are said to be hoping that he could reverse his decision and come back in January. In the meantime, it’s simply nice to see Joel again.
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