Official I Former Leeds United’s Josuha Guilavogui announces his retirement | OneFootball

A former French international (seven caps), Josuha Guilavogui (35) has announced his retirement from professional football. Having been without a club since leaving Leeds United last summer, the midfielder is hanging up his boots after making over 400 appearances on pitches across Europe, scoring 22 goals and delivering 15 assists.

Having come through the AS Saint-Étienne academy, Guilavogui made his debut there before moving to Spain, where he joined Atlético Madrid in 2013. He subsequently played for VfL Wolfsburg, with whom he notably contested a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid, before returning to France in 2022 to play for Girondins de Bordeaux.

Free agent following his departure from Die Wölfe, Guilavogui enjoyed a final spell in Germany with FSV Mainz 05, before making his debut in the Premier League in 2024.

“Dear Football. You demand a lot, but you give so much more in return. You gave me the chance to fulfil my father’s dream, which eventually became my own and which inspires the hearts and eyes of millions of children… and then you chose me,” he wrote in a moving message posted on his Instagram account.

“You will surely forget me, just as you have forgotten others who were greater than me, but like them, I will never forget you. It is time to write THE famous line. I am hanging up my boots. The page is turning, but the book remains open. ‘Let’s not cry because it’s over, let’s smile because it happened.’ Thank you, Football.”

GFFN | Léo Aschi