Past playersJoel Matip

Signed on a free transfer from Schalke 04 in 2016, the centre-back was a key figure throughout Jürgen Klopp's reign as manager, helping to secure a return to Champions League football and starring in the run to glory in the competition in 2019 – including an assist for Divock Origi in the Madrid final against Tottenham Hotspur.

Matip featured as the Reds went on to add the UEFA Super Cup, and was involved in nine Premier League games in 2019-20 as Klopp's team emphatically ended the club's 30-year wait to be crowned English champions again.

After a long-term injury curtailed his 2020-21 campaign, the ex-Cameroon international returned to stellar form as the Reds launched a quadruple bid the following season.

The No.32 clocked up 43 games – his most in a single campaign for the club – and appeared in both finals as the Carabao Cup and FA Cup were lifted at Wembley, while he and his teammates also finished runners-up in the top flight and Champions League.

He continued to be an important member of the squad in 2022-23 and into the beginning of 2023-24, but a cruel anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in December 2023 prevented him from playing for the club again.

Matip and supporters said farewell to one another at Anfield on the final day of that season, ahead of the expiry of his contract, and he subsequently confirmed his retirement from playing.

He had previously spent seven years representing Schalke at senior level after progressing through their youth ranks, winning the German cup with the club in 2011.

In international football, Matip made 27 appearances and scored once for Cameroon, with whom he played at the World Cup in 2010 and 2014.