Home » Sport » Per Mertesacker breaks down in tears as Arsenal legend officially retires with testimonial match managed by Arsene Wenger
Per Mertesacker breaks down in tears as Arsenal legend officially retires with testimonial match managed by Arsene Wenger
PER MERTESACKER broke down in tears as he waved goodbye to football for the final time during his testimonial featuring 19 GOALS.
The 34-year-old has hung up his boots after a 15-year professional career which saw him win the World Cup in 2014.
Over 40,000 fans turned out to watch the centre-back play for Mertesacker's 'Hannover 96 friends' against a World XI, who were managed by Arsene Wenger.
And the former Gunners boss was there to watch at close quarters as Mertesacker was replaced by his 67-year-old father Stefan.
Arsenal signed him from Hannover in 2011 in a bid to plug holes in their leaky defence and he ended up playing 219 games in seven seasons.
Familiar Gunners favourites, such as Jens Lehmann and Kieran Gibbs as well as Wenger were all in attendance.
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