Player Profiles: Joel Matip

Born in Germany to a Cameroonian father and German mother, Joël Matip joined Schalke 04’s youth system when he was just nine years old. He made his Bundesliga debut in 2009 and was a regular in the second half of that 2009/10 season, scoring three times in twenty appearances. Matip was part of a squad that made the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2010/11, making six appearances. The previous summer he had appeared for Cameroon in the World Cup at the age of just eighteen and was also called up to the squad in 2014. Matip’s strength in the air and pace were key reasons why Jurgen Klopp moved to sign him on a pre-contract agreement in February 2016.

He first appeared for the Reds in the opening pre-season game at Tranmere on 8 July. Matip was a regular for his first season with the Reds, but injury and the arrival of Virgil Van Dijk in January 2018 led to him losing out to Dejan Lovren for the remainder of the campaign. Even though Lovren returned from the Word Cup with an injury, Joe Gomez was preferred to partner Van Dijk for the opening five games of 2018-19. Matip did start the sixth, however, scoring in a 3-0 win over Southampton. Appearances were sporadic and he was ruled out of the Christmas period with a fractured collarbone. However, injuries to Gomez and Lovren allowed him to reclaim the centre back spot in January 2019 and he retained it for the rest of the season. His passing ability and comfortableness in bringing the ball forward out of defence were key factors in this, and in the Champions League final he teed up Divock Origi for the crucial second goal. Matip’s excellent performances for Liverpool were rewarded with a new five-year contract in October 2019.