Former Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny announced on August 27 that he was retiring at the age of 34.
In a lengthy post on Instagram, the Polish stopper said of his career: ‘Not only have I realized my dreams, I have arrived at a point where my imagination wouldn’t even dare to take me. I played the game at the highest level with the best players in history without ever feeling inferior… But I also gave the game everything I had.”
He added: “I gave the game eighteen years of my life, every day, without excuses. Although my body still feels ready for challenges, my heart is no longer there today. I feel like now is the time to give all my attention to my family.”
However, Szczesny’s retirement lasted just a month before Barcelona were able to convince him to change his mind. Barca were forced to sign a new goalkeeper after Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a knee injury.
While Szczesny’s turnaround has been remarkably quick, he is not the first footballer to announce his retirement and then reverse that decision.
Wojciech Szczesny, pictured playing for Poland at Euro 2024, didn’t stay retired for long
The former Juventus and Arsenal goalkeeper has returned to the game to play for Barcelona
Paul Scholes
Legendary Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes retired from playing at the end of the 2010-2011 season.
At the age of 36, he had just won his tenth Premier League title with United.
Scholes immediately joined United’s coaching staff after hanging up his boots, but that would not last long.
Within less than a year he was back on the pitch in January 2012 after manager Sir Alex Ferguson suffered an injury crisis in midfield.
Scholes made a further 42 appearances for United after his return, taking his total to 718, before retiring for good in May 2013 after winning his eleventh league title.
Paul Scholes won the Premier League title in 2013 after retiring in 2012
Arjen Robben
Arjen Robben initially retired from football in July 2019 after leaving Bayern Munich.
The Dutch winger had spent ten years at Bayern and won eight Bundesliga titles, as well as the Champions League in 2013.
Robben – who also won league titles with PSV Eindhoven, Chelsea and Real Madrid – was 35 when he retired.
He was 36 when he ended his retirement in June 2020 to return to boys’ club Groningen, where he had started his career.
Unfortunately, injury problems limited captain Robben to just seven appearances during the 2020/21 Groningen season and he retired for good in July 2021.
Dutch winger Arjen Robben played seven games for Groningen after retiring from U-turn
Johan Cruyff
One of the greatest players of all time retired in 1978, when he was just 31.
Johan Cruijff had won seventeen trophies with Ajax and Barcelona, including seven national titles and three consecutive European Cups.
He would win a further five trophies after retiring in 1979, initially with the Los Angeles Aztecs in the US.
Cruyff – who also played for Levante, Washington Diplomats, Ajax and Feyenoord after his return to football – came out of retirement after making a number of bad investments and falling victim to scams.
He once recalled: ‘I had lost millions in pig farming and that was the reason I decided to become a footballer again.’
Johan Cruyff imagined himself playing for Los Angeles Aztecs in 1979 after he retired
Jens Lehmann
Jens Lehmann retired at the end of the 2009/2010 season after making 786 senior club appearances for Schalke, AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Stuttgart.
But the goalkeeper – who also made 61 appearances for Germany – was re-signed by Arsenal in March 2011 after an injury crisis at his former club.
Arsenal were left with Manuel Almunia as the only fit goalkeeper after Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone and a certain Wojciech Szczesny were all injured.
Almunia were then dealt a blow, paving the way for Lehmann to make his comeback in April 2011 in a 3–1 win in Blackpool.
That turned out to be the last performance of Lehmann’s career. It was his 200th game for Arsenal and he became the club’s oldest ever Premier League player at the age of 41.
German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann became Arsenal’s oldest Premier League player in April 2011
Peter Cech
Petr Cech is the Premier League record holder after 202 shutouts for Chelsea and Arsenal between 2004 and 2018.
At the end of the 2018/19 season, he put his playing career into focus.
His last game came for Arsenal in a 4–1 defeat to former club Chelsea in the Europa League final. A month after that match, Cech returned to Chelsea as a technical and performance advisor.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech played for Chelsea U23s in December 2020 as an overage player aged 38, after retiring
Despite not playing again, Cech was later registered as an emergency goalkeeper in Chelsea’s 25-man Premier League squad for the 2020–21 season.
Ultimately, Cech was not needed for the first team, but he did feature as an overage player for Chelsea’s U23 side.