Joel Matip, a defender for Liverpool, has made it known that he hopes to extend his contract and complete his playing career at Anfield.
The 32-year-old, who joined from Schalke 04 in the summer of 2016, is currently in his ninth season on the red side of Merseyside.
Matip has played 190 times for Liverpool in all competitions, and he has won six trophies, including the Champions League, FA Cup, Premier League, and EFL Cup.
Matip’s contract at Anfield has less than a year still to go, but boss Jurgen Klopp does not view him as a first-team regular.
The Cameroonian international made just 16 starts in all competitions last year. He was benched for Liverpool’s first two Premier League games of the new season before being summoned back into the starting lineup to replace the injured Ibrahima Konate and suspended Virgil van Dijk.
Matip has nonetheless asserted that Liverpool is a team that players “don’t just walk away” from and has hinted that he might be open to dedicating his career to Anfield.
Along with backup goalkeeper Adrian and midfielder Thiago Alcantara, three Liverpool players will see their current contracts end in June 2024. Matip is one of them.
The Liverpool Echo cited Matip’s comments from a Sky Germany interview in which he stated: “Of course, Schalke was my youth club, and as a Schalke supporter, it was an incredible honor to play there. I got the chance to do that for a while, and in Liverpool, under these top-notch circumstances, you don’t just walk away.
Additionally, I’m also tremendously at ease here in my personal life. It’s preferable, in my opinion, to not switch clubs frequently. But each person must make their own decision. Whatever the situation, I value consistency.
I’ve reached an age where I no longer give much thought to the future. I try not to plan too far ahead and to make the most of each day. I would be content even if there were just these two clubs left in the end. However, with football, you can never be sure.
Discussing Liverpool’s bright start to the new campaign, accumulating 13 points from a possible 15 available in the Premier League, Matip added: “We are still at the beginning of the season. Of course, we are glad that the results are right.
“The quality that the new players have brought directly into the team is impressive. Now we are trying to work together to ensure that we can be successful in the long run.
“There is always a lot of investment in the Premier League – so you can’t make any predictions. But we also have enormous quality and give everything in every game.
“You never know what the end result will be. For now, we’re just looking at ourselves and trying to win every game. If this succeeds often, the season should have a successful ending.”
Matip will battle with Van Dijk, Konate, Joe Gomez and youngster Jarell Quansah for a start at centre-back in Thursday’s Europa League group-stage opener away against Austrian side LASK Linz.
