Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker (born 29 September 1984) is a German football coach and former professional player who played as a centre back.

He is the current manager of the Arsenal Academy.

Mertesacker began his senior career after being promoted from the youth ranks at Bundesliga club Hannover 96, making his senior league debut in November 2003.

He was soon dubbed "the Defence Pole" ("die Abwehrlatte") by German tabloids, and gained a reputation for his exceptional disciplinary record, going 31 league games without being booked.

He was promoted to the first team for the 2003–04 season and made his league debut in November 2003, starting against Cologne in the unfamiliar role of right-back.

At the time of his debut he was the youngest German-born player in the Bundesliga.

However he had a forgettable match and was promptly substituted at half-time by veteran Steve Cherundolo and sent back to the reserve/amateur team.

Mertesacker was not seen as an exceptional player at that time and had thought about changing sports.

He returned to the first team during the latter half of the season and contributed to Hannover 96's successful battle against relegation.

At national level, Mertesacker played for Germany at the under-20 and under-21 levels, prior to debuting for the senior side in 2004 against Iran.

The following season began more auspiciously as he scored his first goal as professional, a last-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in August 2004.

Having established himself as first-choice centre back, his strong performances and clean disciplinary record did not go unnoticed by new national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who called him up and eventually handed him his senior international debut in October 2004.

The slender Mertesacker was soon dubbed "the Defence Pole" (die Abwehrlatte) by German tabloids and gained a reputation for his good disciplinary record.

His first 31 Bundesliga matches ended without a single yellow card, earning him the nickname "Mr. Clean".

He was only booked twice during his entire career at Hannover.

After various standout performances at Hannover, as well as starring for the Germany national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup at age 21, he transferred after 74 league matches for Hannover to fellow Bundesliga outfit Werder Bremen, for a fee of €5 million later that summer.

On 13 May 2006, he played his last game for Hannover 96 and fittingly scored the opening goal in a 2–2 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.

During his time at Hannover 96, he became good friends with the late Robert Enke, and along with Michael Ballack, presented the laurel during Enke's memorial service.

He later started a temporary account through his foundation (Per Mertesacker Stiftung) to collect donations for Enke's widow.

In August 2006, Mertesacker moved to Werder Bremen in a €5 million transfer deal after a highly impressive performance in the 2006 World Cup, in which Germany finished third.

At the time of his transfer, he and Brazilian midfielder Diego, who joined from Porto, were jointly Bremen's most expensive signings in the club's history.

Despite missing the first month and a half through an injury sustained at the World Cup, he quickly made the centre-back position his own upon his return to the starting eleven.

Upon his debut, Mertesacker established himself as Germany's first-choice centre back for ten years, participating in UEFA European Championship in 2008 and 2012, as well as the 2006, 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, winning the latter.

He would retire from international competition following this win.

Mertesacker has developed other ventures, including the "Per Mertesacker Stiftung", a charitable foundation that helps support amateur sportsmen, and the poor.

He would transition into coaching following his retirement, taking charge of the Arsenal Academy.

The second of three sons, Mertesacker was raised in Pattensen, a small town on the outskirts of the city of Hanover.

He began playing football alongside his brothers at the local amateur club TSV Pattensen before joining Hannover 96, where their father was a part-time coach.

As a youth player Mertesacker was neither a highly regarded prospect or had any ambitions of being a professional footballer and chose to study for his abitur with the goal of entering tertiary education.

Mertesacker joined the youth system of Hannover 96 where he played under his father Stefan, one of the youth coaches, until age 15.

While juggling his football commitments and training, he completed his 'Abitur' at Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Schule, a comprehensive school located in nearby Hemmingen noted for its sports program, and subsequently carried out his 'Zivildienst' at a centre for handicapped people in Hanover.

His tenure at the club was characterized for his ability to read play and stifle the build-up play to opposition attacks, establishing himself as a defender with a quiet-but-effective game, and a core-component of the Bremen team that won the 2009 DFB-Pokal, and finished as runner-up in the 2009 UEFA Cup.

After being singled out for praise for his performances at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and with his contract at Bremen dwindling, he transferred to Premier League club Arsenal a year later, for a fee of £8 million.

At Arsenal, Mertesacker quickly established himself as the first-choice centre back for the club, becoming a mainstay despite sharing several defensive partners over his first two seasons.

He eventually built up a solid relationship with fellow defender Laurent Koscielny, and the duo would star as Arsenal ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup.

He would later captain and score for the side in their retention of the trophy a year later, before becoming the club's outright captain in 2016.

He would again star in his third victory of the trophy in 2017.

However, injuries derailed the latter stages of his career at Arsenal, and was used sparingly during his final two seasons, being forced to retire in 2018.

In October 2018, Mertesacker returned to Hanover for his charity-cum-testimonial match, which featured his former teammates from Hannover 96 facing off against a "World XI" team composed of his former teammates from Arsenal, Werder Bremen and the Germany national team.

Instead of holding his testimonial match in London, where he was based when he retired, he chose Hanover as it was where his career began.