Per Mertesacker will oversee Germany’s national teams and academy after ending an eight-year spell in charge of Arsenal’s youth system.
Per Mertesacker has been appointed as the German Football Association’s new Managing Director of Sport following his departure from Arsenal this summer.
The former Gunners captain and Academy Manager will begin the role on 1 January 2027, replacing Andreas Rettig when his contract expires at the end of the year. The appointment was approved unanimously by the DFB’s supervisory board and shareholders’ meeting.
His new remit covers both Germany’s national teams and the DFB academy, placing him at the heart of elite international football and the broader landscape of player development across the country.
“I am very much looking forward to this new task and the responsibility that comes with it,” Mertesacker said.
“My connection to the DFB never broke off, even after the end of my national team career. That’s why it’s something special for me to return in this role.”
This new chapter comes after eight years at the helm of Arsenal’s academy. Back in January, Mertesacker announced he would step down at the end of the 2025/26 season, closing a long association with the club that started when he joined from Werder Bremen in 2011.
Arsenal had already earmarked Mertesacker for the academy manager’s job before he’d even hung up his boots, confirming he would take over from the start of the 2018/19 season. It meant a freshly retired club captain was now guiding the crucial pathway from Hale End to the first team.
During his time in charge, that pathway became central to Arsenal’s identity.
Bukayo Saka progressed into the senior team shortly after Mertesacker took charge and developed into one of the club’s leading players. Emile Smith Rowe, Eddie Nketiah, Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock also established themselves at first-team level before some later moved elsewhere for regular football.
More recently, Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly emerged from Hale End to become members of Mikel Arteta’s squad. Nwaneri became the youngest player in Premier League history when he made his debut in September 2022, while Lewis-Skelly followed with his senior debut two years later.
Their rise was the latest sign that Arsenal’s academy could still produce players ready to meet the demands of a team chasing major trophies.
“German football has enormous potential,” he added. “With humility, the will to work hard, and the necessary patience, we want to foster the talents and personalities who make the difference.
“Together, we want to create an environment in which players can take on responsibility, grow through challenges, and develop their full potential, from the grassroots level all the way to the national teams.”
The academy’s role stretched beyond just feeding the first team. Players like Folarin Balogun, Charlie Patino and Brooke Norton-Cuffy came through the system before forging careers elsewhere, whether on loan or in permanent moves.
He also played a key part in bringing through a new generation of academy coaches. Freddie Ljungberg, Kevin Betsy, Dan Micciche, Mehmet Ali and Jack Wilshere all took on major roles during his time, with Wilshere guiding the under-18s to the FA Youth Cup final in 2023.
Now 41, Mertesacker departed Arsenal with experience on both sides of the club’s development fence. He played over 200 times for the Gunners, lifting three FA Cups before stepping straight into the academy job. On the international stage, he earned 104 caps for Germany, winning the World Cup in 2014 after earlier runs to two World Cup semi-finals and the Euro 2008 final.
DFB president Bernd Neuendorf described Mertesacker as one of German football’s outstanding personalities, pointing to both his international career and his leadership of “one of Europe’s most renowned youth academies”.
Arsenal have turned to Pascal De Maesschalck as their new academy director. The Belgian will start on 1 August after leaving Strasbourg, and brings experience from previous academy roles at Club Brugge and Monaco.
Taking on the DFB role is a big step up in scale for Mertesacker, but the core challenge is a familiar one. After eight years shaping Arsenal’s youth pathway, he now faces the task of linking player development with the demands of Germany’s senior national sides.