Joel Matip has avoided the spotlight since leaving Liverpool and retiring in 2024, but the former centre-back has made a rare appearance for his former club this month.
Matip made the decision to retire after his contract at Liverpool expired, having spent the majority of his final season out with an ACL injury.
Since then, the 34-year-old has rarely been sighted, with a post from wife Larissa on Instagram at the end of October the first time he had been pictured.
Our special edition kit, featuring a very special model??#S04 | #11teamsports | @adidasfootball pic.twitter.com/IEdXk8lwHZ
— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) December 9, 2025
The Schalke academy graduate has, however, now returned to his former club as part of a campaign for an anniversary kit with Adidas.
Schalke’s special edition shirt marks 150 years of the city of Gelsenkirchen, with the names of its 18 districts on the sleeves, and Matip was among those to model it.
Matip attracted interest from both Bayer Leverkusen and West Ham after leaving Liverpool, but announced his decision to retire 14 months ago.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Saturday, August 21, 2021: Liverpool's manager Jürgen Klopp (R) and Joel Matip after the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Burnley FC at Anfield. Liverpool won 2-0. (Pic by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
It was later reported that Jurgen Klopp had pushed for a new deal for his long-serving centre-back only to be overruled by the club’s hierarchy – as was the case with both Roberto Firmino and James Milner before him.
The German-born ex-Cameroon international has gone on the enjoy a quiet retirement which is in keeping with the low profile he kept throughout his playing career.
Schalke are currently in the 2.Bundesliga, having been relegated from the German top flight at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.
Loris Karius has revived his career at Schalke
LONDON, ENGLAND - Saturday, February 24, 2024: Newcastle United's goalkeeper Loris Karius during the FA Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Newcastle United FC at the Emirates Stadium. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Their time in the second tier has provided an opportunity for one of Matip’s former teammates at Liverpool to revive his career: having signed on a free transfer in January, Loris Karius is now their No. 1.
This season Karius has played every minute of every league game, keeping eight clean sheets and conceding only eight goals in 15 appearances, with Schalke currently four points clear at the top.
“I’m not the type to cling desperately to something, and I have to say: if Schalke hadn’t approached me, I probably would have even ended my career,” he told Die Welt last month.
“So it’s all the better that things are going so well here now. This club has brought me joy from the very beginning and given me so much.”