Mertesacker won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 Kirill Kudryavtsev via Getty ImagesJuly 24, 2026 Updated 6:43 am EDTPer Mertesacker is set to be announced as the German Football Federation (DFB)’s new sporting director later this year.The former defender — who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany — left former club Arsenal at the end of the 2025-26 season.The 41-year-old had spent 15 years in north London, seven as a player and then eight years as the club’s academy manager following his retirement in 2018.When asked about Mertesacker’s impending appointment, DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said on Friday: “Per’s name was immediately on everyone’s lips, but the truth is that Andreas Rettig, Rudi Voller and I had been in talks with Per for a year and a half.“We started these talks very early on, and he indicated early on that he would be ready to take on this task.”Mertesacker’s playing career span over two decades and saw him represent the likes of Hannover 96, Werder Bremen and Arsenal. The defender also made 104 appearances for Germany and featured six times in their triumphant 2014 World Cup campaign.Mertsacker also spent a short amount of time assisting interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg before Mikel Arteta was appointed in December 2019.Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Ethan Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Max Dowman and Marli Salmon are among the standout players to come through Arsenal’s academy and feature for the first team in Mertesacker’s time as its manager.