Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker was never the defender highlight reels loved, and that's exactly why I rate him. At 200 cm he could have relied on size, but his real weapon was reading the game and positioning, snuffing out danger before it ever became a moment. Rising through Hannover 96's youth ranks gave him a grounded, self-made quality I admire. He was a quiet pillar of Germany's 2014 World Cup-winning side, the kind of steady presence champions need behind them. Moving into developing young players at the Arsenal Academy fits him perfectly. Defenders this unflashy and intelligent deserve far more respect than they get.

Name (English)

Per Mertesacker

Name (Japanese)

ペア・メルテザッカー

Reading

ぺあ・めるてざっかー

Born

September 29, 1984 (age 41)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Libra / Rat

Origin

Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany

Height

200 cm

Occupation

association football player / association football coach

Awards & achievements

• 2014 Silbernes Lorbeerblatt

• Official sitehttps://www.permertesacker.de/
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p_mertesacker/
• Xhttps://x.com/mertesacker
• Wikipedia (English)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Per%20Mertesacker
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9A%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BB%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AB%E3%83%86%E3%82%B6%E3%83%83%E3%82%AB%E3%83%BC
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q70550

Tags

• Lower Saxony
• association football player
• association football coach

Last updated

2026-06-19

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.