Now it’s official: French world star Franck Ribery has had to end his active career earlier than planned. The long-time Bayern dribbler made the announcement on his social channels.
“The ball is resting. The feelings inside me don’t.” With these words, Ribery put his career to rest via Twitter. Rumours of an early end to his career had already been doing the rounds recently after the now 39-year-old was repeatedly plagued by knee problems. His contract with his current club US Salernitana ran until the end of the season.
Ribery became a world star at FC Bayern Munich. He moved to Säbener Straße from Olympique Marseille in 2007 and won everything there is to win in club football with FCB. In his twelve years with the record champions, he became German champion a total of nine times and won the DFB Cup six times. 2013 then followed with the most successful year, winning the Champions League as well as the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Super Cup. Ribery also celebrated a personal triumph in the historic season, as he was voted “Europe’s Footballer of the Year” in 2013. Twice he was also honoured by kicker as “Man of the Year” – after 2008 also in 2013.
“With Franck Ribery, one of the greats in the history of football – and not least of FC Bayern – is ending his career,” Bayern boss Oliver Kahn is quoted as saying on the club’s website. In total, Ribery played for FC Bayern from 2007 to 2019, scoring 124 goals and 182 assists in 425 competitive games. He then moved to Italy, first to AC Fiorentina, then to US Salernitana. His sporting journey now comes to an end in Salerno.