BREAKING: Franck Ribery announces retirement

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Franck Ribery has decided to cut his contract with Salernitana short and hang up his boots now, rather than wait for the end of the season which was his initial plan.

Ribery started out playing for LOSC Lille at youth level and made his way into the senior game with US Boulogne. He also played for Olympique Ales, Stade Brestois and Metz, before leaving France for a six-month spell at Galatasaray. In the summer of 2005, he returned to his homeland to sign for Olympique Marseille and stayed there for two years, before Bayern Munich came calling.

The Bavarians reportedly paid close to €40 million for his services, a vast fee in those days, and Ribery went on to represent the German club on 425 occasions, scoring 124 goals and assisting his teammates 182 times.

His collection of trophies and individual awards is truly amazing: nine Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, four Super Cups and one League Cup in Germany, the 2013 Champions League followed by the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, on Turkish Cup with Galatasaray, the Footballer of the Year awards in Germany and France, and one UEFA Best Player in Europe award.

Ribery spent the final three years of his career in Italy, where he spent two years with Fiorentina and the last one at Salernitana, where he would continue playing until the end of the season had he not decided it was enough.

The 39-year-old also accumulated 89 caps as a France international, scoring 16 goals.

A great player, a glittering career.