Liverpool icon Joel Matip has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33, just months after leaving the Reds at the end of his contract

Joel Matip has announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 33 (Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Ex-Liverpool star Joel Matip has dropped a bombshell as he hangs up his boots just months after bidding farewell to the club.

The towering ex-Reds defender, who scooped up a Premier League title, Champions League glory, FA Cup, a couple of League Cups, not to mention the Club World Cup and Super Cup over an impressive eight seasons, now reckons it's time to call it quits on his football journey.

Last December saw Matip sidelined with a nightmare ACL injury during a nail-biting 4-3 victory against Fulham, though he's been soldiering on through recovery after a successful stint under the knife. Even with the talk of a possible comeback alongside fellow former Kop star, Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, the 33 year old has put an end to his time on the pitch.

Matip also turned out 27 times for Cameroon and bowed out of international action in 2016 after smashing it at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, reports the Mirror.

Liverpool penned a heartfelt message on the club's official website: "Everybody at LFC wishes Joel and his family the very best for the future."

He's not alone in sliding into retirement from Liverpool this summer with midfield genius Thiago Alcantara also hanging up his boots after an injury-plagued few years.

Klopp paid tribute to Matip and his contribution to Liverpool's success under his stewardship back in May, stating: "In all the years that I have been involved in football, I am not sure I have come across too many players who are more loved than Joel Matip. I'm not even sure it would be possible to say anything bad about him.

"A wonderful professional, a wonderful footballer and a wonderful human being we have been blessed to have him with us for as long as we have and now all we can do is wish him well as he heads off in a new direction.

"Joel's qualities as a player are there for all to see and as a club, we have benefited from them since the first moment that he joined. I don't think he has had too many headlines over the years but he has only ever been a very famous figure within our group.

"I have said before that if there was one person who wouldn't care if he was underrated it would be Joel, but the truth is we could not have rated him more highly. Not only has he set the standards for himself, he has set them for others and this is one of the main reasons why his time here has been so successful."