'First talks took place' - Liverpool favourite could join Bundesliga side after eight year career in England
The defender was a key figure for Jurgen Klopp
Ex-Liverpool defender Joel Matip may be about to re-join the Bundesliga, eight years after he left to join English football.
The 32-year-old is currently a free agent after exiting Liverpool officially on June 30. He joined on a free transfer in 2016 from Schalke and went on to make 201 appearances under Jurgen Klopp, scoring 11 times and winning every trophy available including the Premier League and Champions League.
His last season at the club was scarred by a long-term injury suffered early in the season. Featuring in the majority of their games up until that point, he was taken off during the 4-3 win over Fulham in the Premier League in December 2023. It was later confirmed he had suffered an ACL injury and his season was over.
Having since recovered, he is ready to accept a new challenge and, according to Florian Plettenburg, he could re-join the Bundesliga as Bayer Leverkusen are interested in a move. He took to X to confirm the interest. ‘Bayer 04 Leverkusen is very interested to sign Joel #Matip as a free agent! First talks took place. Xavi Alonso wants to strengthen the team with an experienced central defender.’
It’s a league that Matip is well versed in; across his 256 games for the German club, 194 came in the Bundesliga. He even won the German Cup and German Super Cup across across 2010-2012. And now he has a chance to link up with ex-Liverpool player Alonso following their incredible season last time out.
Leverkusen were one of the standout teams in Europe, winning the Bundesliga undefeated as well as securing the German cup. They also reached the final of the Europa League but were defeated by Liverpool’s conquerors Atalanta. He would add crucial experience at the back and could be eased back into action thanks to their strong defensive backline.
They already have the likes of Jonathan Tah (reports claimed personal terms were agreed before the European Championships with Bayern Munich), Piero Hincapie, Jeanuël Belocian, Sadik Fofana and Liverpool-linked Odilon Kossounou. Matip would add nicely as a squad player, helping Alonso to manage the load of a long season.