The Reds centre-back Joel Matip has admitted that he wants to continue to be a Liverpool player beyond his current deal, which will expire at the end of the campaign.
🥉| While Joel Matip wants to stay at Liverpool beyond this season, the club are planning to reinforce the defence with younger talent in the summer, which could spell bad news for the defender. [@caughtoffside] pic.twitter.com/O46ngdJlKa
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) September 22, 2023
Joel was 1 of Jurgen Klopp’s 1st signings after he became the Reds new head coach, having inked his pre-contract agreement in February 2016 ahead of a free transfer a few months later.
The 32-year-old defender played almost 200 matches for the team, with the current season being his 8th at the club. He is currently not started when all the defenders are healthy, but he was part of Liverpool’s most successful period in the 21st century.
“Of course, Schalke was my youth team. As a Schalke supporter, it was an absolute honor to play there. I had the chance to do that for a long period, and here in Liverpool, with these absolute best conditions, you couldn’t just leave,” the defender shared in an interview.
Matip added that he would be happy to retire at Anfield as he is also happy with his private life there.