Per Mertesacker is set to leave his role as Arsenal’s Academy Manager at the end of the season after almost eight years in the role
Per Mertesacker is set to leave his role as Academy Manager at Arsenal in the summer(Image: Getty Images)
The German Football Association (DFB) are lining up a move for Per Mertesacker – just days after it was confirmed the 41-year-old would leave his role as Academy Manager at Arsenal in the summer.
After retiring from professional football in 2018, Mertesacker became the head of Arsenal’s academy and has flourished in the role, helping pave the pathways for some of the best talent in the club’s history.
Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly and Max Dowman are among those that have progressed from the academy and into the first team during Mertesacker’s time in the academy. The ex-Arsenal defender, who made more than 200 appearances in seven years as a player at the Emirates, is seen as a very popular member of the club’s structure.
However, the Gunners announced on Monday that Mertesacker would be stepping down from his position at the end of the season. “Arsenal is and will always be a very special club to me, so this was a difficult decision,” Mertesacker said in a statement on the Arsenal website. “I am very thankful for the trust the club put in me when transitioning from a first-team player directly into the role as Head of Academy.
“Now it is time for me to move on and explore something new and push myself even further. I remain focused on finishing the season strongly, continuing to nurture and develop our young talent and support a seamless transition until my very last day with the club.”
Now, according to BILD, Mertesacker is considered a ‘hot candidate’ for a similar position at the German Football Association (DFB).
Back in 2022, Mertesacker, along with fellow World Cup winner Sami Khedira, was considered as a possible replacement for Oliver Bierhoff, who vacated his position as the director of the national team following Germany’s group stage exit at the World Cup in Qatar.
But at the time, the two parties couldn’t reach an agreement and Mertesacker remained at Arsenal.
The DFB then decided to restructure up above with Andreas Rettig becoming the managing director of sport at the 2023 and Rudi Voller getting appointed as sporting director. Rettig’s position also covers Germany’s youth teams.
Voller has just extended his contract as sporting director at DFB until 2028 and the 1990 World Cup winner has a good working relationship with Mertesacker and has emphasised that he could, in principle, imagine the ex-Arsenal man succeeding him. However, that scenario won’t become relevant for at least the next two-and-a-half years.
For the time being, Mertesacker is set to continue in his role at Arsenal until the end of the current season.
