FORMER Chelsea and Werder Bremen midfielder Marko Marin has announced that he will retire at the end of the season.
Marko Marin announces retirement at 33 years after stalled promising career. (Getty Images)
Marko Marin is one of the game’s most promising players who looked set to be a world-beating talent but injuries and bad moves prevented him from living up to the hype.
In an exclusive interview with Goal in 2016, Marko Marin reflected on the nickname bestowed upon him early in his career and forced to wear like a bridle ever since – ‘The German Messi’.
“Everywhere I go and after I play a few good games, it’s been like this. Even after my first game here, it started again: ‘Our new Messi’.
“It’s a nice thing but nobody thinks really that it’s a real comparison between Messi and me, It’s only the style of football.”
Marin had burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old at Borussia Monchengladbach, making his senior debut during the 2007-08 campaign, which ended with promotion to the Bundesliga.
The comparisons were not too outrageous; with his dribbling, creativity and agility, there were real hopes that Marin could be a spearhead for the promising new generation of German talent coming through the youth team ranks but all were just hopes who remained unfulfilled.
During his time as a professional footballer Marin has joined over 12 different clubs including Werder Bremen, Chelsea and Sevilla and now Ferencvaros before finally cutting it short. And one the biggest moves was to Chelsea in 2012.
Marin joined Chelsea in 2012 on a five-year deal from Werder Bremen but failed to properly establish himself in the Premier League despite winning the Europa League with the Blues.
Marin impressed in Chelsea’s pre-season games and looked like he would be a key player for the 2012-13 season but hamstring injury scuppered matters, though, as did the departure of Di Matteo, who was replaced at the helm by Rafa Benitez.
Chelsea signed Marko Marin from Werder Bremen in 2012. Four years, four loans, five Chelsea managers and 16 Chelsea appearances later, Marin signed a permanent transfer to Olympiakos. (image: Getty Images)
Marin rarely had a spot in the starting line-up whilst at Chelsea, and was limited to just 16 first-team appearances during his time at Stamford Bridge – scoring one league before selling him to Olympiacos in 2016.
Still, while his career may not have panned out the way he expected when he joined Chelsea, Marin says he does not regret moving to Stamford Bridge.
The midfielder has most recently been playing for Ferencvaros – a club that competes in the top flight of Hungarian football and has scored one goal in 13 appearances so far this season.
But, Marin has made it clear that he has no intention to continue playing once the season is over.