Joel Matip retires from football after West Ham United talks following Liverpool exit

Joel Matip has confirmed his retirement from football a matter of weeks after talks with West Ham didn’t lead to a deal.

The 27-cap Cameroon international announced via his Instagram page on 12 October that he had decided to “hang up his boots”, following his departure from Liverpool at the end of last season.

The Irons were interested in signing a free agent centre-back following the close of the summer transfer window after Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd made late loan exits.

Multiple sets of talks were held with the 33-year-old [Standard, 2 September] but ultimately no deal materialised, and Matip will now bow out.

Julen Lopetegui wanted late West Ham signing
Angelo Ogbonna’s contract had also expired earlier in the summer so despite the arrivals of Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo the Hammers squad is probably one defender short.

The club had John Egan in during the previous international break to play in a behind-closed-doors friendly but the ex-Sheffield United man ended up joining Burnley instead.

Links to former Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels [Florian Plettenberg, 6 August] also went nowhere as the German signed for Roma, and Julen Lopetegui confirmed on 12 September that he was focusing on youth team players to step up if necessary.

Matip was a Premier League and Champions League winner at Anfield but after heavy spending at the London Stadium during the summer as Tim Steidten recruited for the new manager he may have been looking for a better contract that the Irons could afford.

Konstantinos Mavropanos is the third senior centre-back currently in Lopetegui’s squad but has flattered to deceive during the early weeks of the season as the Spanish manager’s reign got off to a rough start.

So there is almost-certain to be more movement at the position over coming windows, even if the two summer signings establish themselves long-term.

The 4-1 win over Ipswich heading into the current break has lifted a fair amount of the gloom around the club, but there is a long way still to go yet.