Per Mertesacker

Club career

Hannover 96

Mertesacker joined the youth system of Hannover 96 where he played under his father Stefan, one of the youth coaches, until age 15. While juggling his football commitments and training, he completed his 'Abitur' at Carl-Friedrich-Gauß-Schule, a comprehensive school located in nearby Hemmingen noted for its sports program, and subsequently carried out his 'Zivildienst' at a centre for handicapped people in Hanover. He was promoted to the first team for the 2003–04 season and made his league debut in November 2003, starting against Cologne in the unfamiliar role of right-back. At the time of his debut he was the youngest German-born player in the Bundesliga. However he had a forgettable match and was promptly substituted at half-time by veteran Steve Cherundolo and sent back to the reserve/amateur team. Mertesacker was not seen as an exceptional player at that time and had thought about changing sports. He returned to the first team during the latter half of the season and contributed to Hannover 96's successful battle against relegation. The following season began more auspiciously as he scored his first goal as professional, a last-minute equaliser against Borussia Dortmund in August 2004. Having established himself as first-choice centre back, his strong performances and clean disciplinary record did not go unnoticed by new national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who called him up and eventually handed him his senior international…

At 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in), Mertesacker was commanding in the air but he was also sound in defending on the ground. He often used his strength to shrug opponents off the ball and his standing tackling ability to win balls. Despite being criticised by pundits for his lack of pace, he compensated with his excellent positional play and astute reading of the game. As a result, he was able to make clean interceptions and clearances, hence his reputation as a defender who rarely conceded reckless fouls or got booked. Mertesacker possessed solid technique, was a good defensive organizer, and a neat distributor of the ball. He averaged 46.3 passes per game in 2010–11 season, the third highest in the Werder Bremen squad, and the second-highest pass success rate, at 82%. In the 2012–13 season with Arsenal, he averaged 50.1 passes per game with a 91.5% success rate, fourth-highest in the league. Often, Mertesacker was paired with a more mobile and quicker defender who could track-back in a counterattack situation, such as Mats Hummels and Arne Friedrich for Germany, Naldo at Bremen, or Laurent Koscielny at Arsenal.

The second of three sons, Mertesacker was raised in Pattensen, a small town on the outskirts of the city of Hanover. He began playing football alongside his brothers at the local amateur club TSV Pattensen before joining Hannover 96, where their father was a part-time coach. As a youth player Mertesacker was neither a highly regarded prospect or had any ambitions of being a professional footballer and chose to study for his abitur with the goal of entering tertiary education.

Mertesacker met his future wife German international handballer Ulrike Stange in 2008 while both were recovering from injury at a rehab clinic in Donaustauf and began a relationship not long after. They married in June 2013 and have two sons (born April 2011 and May 2014). Mertesacker is a Protestant Christian. In an interview with German newspaper Der Spiegel published in March 2018, Mertesacker admitted to suffering from anxiety attacks throughout his career due to the "inhumane pressure" to perform, but had continued on due to his love for the sport and the desire to win silverware, and expressed his relief that he would no longer have to experience it anymore as he was retiring. The well-publicised interview drew criticism from some current and former players but he was generally praised by many others, including professional sports psychologists and his former teammates, for his candidness and courage in broaching a sensitive topic and addressing the perception that footballers were "perfect". It reignited debate within Germany about the psychological welfare and well-being of professional footballers and elite athletes.