Former Arsenal defender and World Cup winner, Shkodran Mustafi announces retirement at 32

Former Arsenal defender, Shkodran Mustafi has retired from playing football and bagged a job as an Under-17s national team coach. 

The ex-German defender, who also won the World Cup, spent the entirety of last season as a free agent after leaving Levante and was only able to make three outings in his final year at the Spanish side due to injury.

Mustafi, who played for Arsenal between 2016 and 2021 and won the World Cup with Germany in 2014, revealed that coaching has been on the edges of his mind for a while. 

Mustafi has assumed the assistant manager role under Marc Meister at Germany’s Under-17s and will start on July 1. 

He said: ‘I’ve been thinking about gaining experience as a coach for a while.

‘On the one hand, it’s a shame that it’s coming so soon because I would have liked to have played football myself for longer. 

‘On the other hand, I’m really looking forward to the time ahead and to taking my first steps as a coach at the DFB.

‘I want to pass on all the experience I’ve gained during my time with the U15s, U21s and of course with the senior national team to the boys.’

Mustafi made 20 caps for Germany over three years between 2014 and 2017.