Franck Ribery confirms retirement from professional football

The 39-year-old has terminated his contract with Italian outfit Salernitana after struggling to overcome a troublesome knee problem.

Ribery was involved for the Serie A outfit on the opening weekend of the 2022-23 campaign against Roma, but he has not featured since due to a knee issue.

There have been rumours of a possible retirement for the Frenchman over the last few weeks, and the attacker has now taken to social media to confirm that he will be hanging up his boots.

"The ball stops. The feelings inside me do not. Thanks to everyone for this great adventure," Ribery posted on his official Twitter account on Friday.

In total, he represented Salernitana on 25 occasions, providing three assists in the process, while he also played in Italy for Fiorentina between 2019 and 2021.

Ribery started his professional career with Boulogne before representing Olympique d'Ales, Brest, Metz and Galatasaray ahead of a move to Marseille, where his form earned him a switch to Bayern Munich.

The forward turned out for the German giants between 2007 and 2019, representing them on 425 occasions in all competitions, scoring 124 goals and contributing 182 assists.

Ribery was key to Bayern's dominance during his time at Allianz Arena, winning nine Bundesliga titles, six German Cups and the Champions League trophy during a highly-successful period.

Ribery will retire having made 81 appearances for France, meanwhile, scoring 16 times in the process, helping his country reach the final of the 2006 World Cup.

The forward's last outing for his national side came in 2014, though, and he has decided to retire with immediate effect after struggling with his fitness over the last 12 months.

Ribery also finished third in the 2013 Ballon d'Or, while he won the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray and Intertoto Cup with Marseille during a successful career.