Per Mertesacker (; born 29 September 1984) is a German football coach and former professional player who played as a centre back.
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. 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. 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 earning praise at the 2010 World Cup, and with his contract at Bremen ending, 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 starred as Arsenal ended their nine-year trophy drought by winning the 2014 FA Cup. He later captained and scored for the side in their retention of the trophy a year later, before becoming the club's outright captain in 2016. He again starred 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.
At international level, Mertesacker played for Germany at the under-20 and under-21 levels, before debuting for the senior side in 2004 against Iran. 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 retired from international football following the world cup win.
Mertesacker has developed other ventures, including the "Per Mertesacker Stiftung", a charitable foundation that helps support amateur sportsmen, and the poor. He transitioned into coaching following his retirement, taking charge of the Arsenal Academy.
Early life 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.
Footballing career Club career Hannover 96 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'English: "alternative civilian service", the alternative to the then-required military conscription service at a centre for handicapped people in Hanover. 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. 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. 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 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.
Werder Bremen
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. In November, he scored his debut Champions League goal in a 1–0 win over Chelsea to end the Premier League winners' unbeaten streak in the season's competition. Upon his first return to the AWD-Arena for the first game of the second half of the season, he refused to celebrate after scoring against his boyhood club.
The 2007–08 season was a mixed bag for Mertesacker. He started in nearly all of Bremen's league and European fixtures and received his first red card in his professional career in a 6–3 loss against VfB Stuttgart. Bremen finished runners-up in the league winning only two games fewer than champions Bayern Munich and managed to seal a place in the next season's Champions League. At the end of the season, he signed a two-year extension to his original contract.
After returning from the Euro 2008, Mertesacker again missed the beginning of the new season with a knee injury and through illness. In September, he returned to the starting line-up. He scored the opening goal in the DFB-Pokal semi-final away at northern rivals Hamburger SV to break the deadlock after a goalless first half, but the home side equalised, forcing the match into extra time and Bremen eventually triumphed 4–2 on penalties. He was ever present for the rest of the season until injury forced him off in the UEFA Cup semifinal second leg against Bundesliga rivals Hamburg. It was later revealed that he had torn ligaments in his right ankle and required surgery. He was ruled out for the rest of the season, as well as the UEFA Cup final loss against Shakhtar Donetsk and DFB-Pokal final, which they won. He scored four goals in all competitions, including a crucial equalizer against VfL Wolfsburg.
Mertesacker began the 2009–10 season well with a 5–0 win over FC Union Berlin in the 2009–10 DFB-Pokal, the first game of the season. In October, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 win against 1899 Hoffenheim and a last-minute equalizer in the clash against table-toppers Bayer Leverkusen in February. He played 33 Bundesliga matches in total, scoring five goals in the process.
In the 2010–11 season, Mertesacker made 30 Bundesliga appearances, scoring two goals. He averaged 46.3 passes per game, the third-highest in the Bremen squad, and the second highest pass success rate, with 82%, demonstrating another facet of his game.
Over the course of his final two seasons at Bremen, Mertesacker received just one yellow card in 63 league matches. He averaged less than one foul per game, cementing his reputation as an astute reader of the game, defying critics' predictions that his height would render him clumsy and having a tendency to frequently concede fouls.
Arsenal
On 31 August 2011, Arsenal confirmed they had signed Mertesacker on a four-year contract. He was presented the number 4 shirt previously worn by former team captain Cesc Fàbregas. In his first month at the club, Mertesacker started in every one of his available league and European matches since his summer move, battling on through the month with various defensive partners as injury problems mounted. "I want to do a good job, especially in the defence," he said. "That is my role. If the coach praises me then that is a great thing but I have to go on and keep on working." In November, he enjoyed a positive month at the heart of the Arsenal defence as he developed his partnership with fellow defender Laurent Koscielny. The Germany international helped the Gunners to victories against Sunderland, Stoke City and Chelsea – and was outstanding as Arsenal kept a clean sheet in the away victory in Marseille. He remained an integral part of Arsène Wenger's first team, playing in every one of Arsenal's available Premier League fixtures over the next month. He was virtually ever-present over January, missing only the FA Cup victory over Leeds United through illness.
In February, Mertesacker suffered an ankle injury in the win over Sunderland away at the Stadium of Light and faced a long-term spell on the sidelines. Prior to his injury, he featured in the draw at Bolton Wanderers and the 7–1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Emirates Stadium. "Unfortunately he has had surgery and we have lost him for a while," said Arsène Wenger. "How long, I don't know. He had reconstruction of his ligaments. So it will be long term." He had not featured for Arsenal for the remainder of the season.
In his second season, Mertesacker played in Arsenal's first two matches, helping the team keep clean sheets against Sunderland and Stoke. "I think we have a better situation than last year," he said. "The team is full of characters, good players and every position [has competition]." He featured four times in September, forging a fine partnership with Thomas Vermaelen (who replaced Koscielny due to injury) in the process. The German centre back was named man of the match after an excellent performance in a 1–1 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.