Joël Matip will most likely continue his career at Bayer Leverkusen, journalist Florian Plettenberg reported on Thursday morning. The 32-year-old defender is currently a free agent after an eight-year stint at Liverpool.

Bayer Leverkusen sees the possible arrival of Matip as a golden opportunity. The physically strong defender has already had talks with the club management and successful coach Xabi Alonso. The Spaniard is eager to strengthen his selection with an experienced man-marker and Matip fits in perfectly with his picture.

This allows Matip to return to Germany, his native country. He was born in Bochum, but the right-footed player eventually made his breakthrough at Schalke 04. After 256 matches for that club, Matip left for Liverpool on a free transfer in 2016.

As a player of the Reds all his football dreams came true. With the English powerhouse, Matip won the Premier League, Champions League, English and UEFA Super Cup, FA Cup and League Cup (2x).

In total, Matip played 201 games for Liverpool, scoring 11 goals and providing 6 assists. In the past two seasons, he was overtaken by younger competitors, although Matip played a fair number of games as a back-up.

While Matip ended his international career for Cameroon at a young age in 2015, he is far from finished playing for clubs. At Bayer Leverkusen, he should use his experience to help the team in an attempt to defend their title.

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