Divock Origi: Former Liverpool and Belgium striker announces retirement from professional football

Jurgen Klop said Divock Origi “is, and will be for me, forever a Liverpool legend”.

But what defines a club legend?

Sometimes, it’s the thrill of a derby day goal. Or the euphoria created from the promise and fulfilment of a European comeback.

Maybe a goal scored to then help claim eventual European glory underpins that status.

For Liverpool, Divock Origi, who has retired aged 31, is all of that and more.

While legends of the past wrote their history in appearances or even a trophy haul, Origi wrote his Liverpool story in the moments that mattered most.

And the goals he scored for Liverpool in the crunch moments are the ones that matter most to him.

“Three goals come to mind,” Origi told Sky Sports as he reminisced about the moments that stand out during his career.

“Barcelona, in the Champions League final, and the Everton derby in the 96th minute.

“Each one is iconic in its own way. The final probably represents the height of it all; you saw the fruit of everything.

“But if I had to choose one, I’d say the Barcelona goal. The emotion and the feeling of those three will stay with me forever.”

Beyond those goals, there were more that will keep Origi etched into Anfield folklore. Rivals Everton were his favourite opponents during his career, with his six goals in Merseyside derbies more than he had managed against any other side.

The Belgian striker’s moments are littered across Jurgen Klopp’s time at Liverpool too. Before Mohamed Salah, Alisson and Virgil van Dijk arrived to change the face of modern-day Liverpool, Origi was there in the difficult early days under Klopp, starting in his first 11 games and scoring vital goals in the Europa League.

Brendan Rodgers signed Origi in 2014 to kick-start a career at Liverpool that would produce 41 goals across 175 games. There were loans during his time at Anfield, too, with Klopp admitting Origi deserved more than just the impact role he made his own.

Origi left Liverpool in 2022 but his name will echo around the halls of Liverpool along with that of Klopp’s. He took with him a Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup medal.

For a player who found regular minutes hard to come by under the German, the bond Klopp and Origi shared was a unique one.

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Just months before Origi left Anfield, Jurgen Klopp described the forward as a ‘Liverpool legend’

“Klopp holds a special place for me,” Origi said.

“We shared special moments and won the biggest trophies together. But the gift was that he helped draw out who I truly am, off the pitch.

“The first thing he told me was that he believed in me. I was in his first starting XI, and from day one he believed in me.

“He said that as long as I was all in, we’d achieve great things together. And we did. When I left, he thanked me for everything we’d achieved together, and he was excited for what was to come for me.”

After testing spells at AC Milan and Nottingham Forest, it’s now time for a new chapter for Origi, with his last competitive appearance coming in 2024. He closes the old one with a feeling of satisfaction.

“I’ve been blessed to win some of the biggest trophies in the game,” he told Sky Sports.

“But more than that, I’m proud to have contributed to teams that will forever be remembered in the history of football, clubs like Liverpool that have shaped the game and will keep shaping it.

“And alongside that, I’m proud of who football made me. It helped shape me into the man I was created to be. It shaped my faith.

“I have no regrets. Every journey has its challenges, but through my faith, I’ve always believed that every challenge came to sharpen me, either as a man or to push me to grow as a player, to sharpen my craft.

“That’s how it was meant to be. I embraced every celebration and every challenge, because both made me the player and the man I am today.”

Next for Origi is an opportunity to pursue what he calls his love for fashion, while also working alongside his friend Marvin Willem Ofori for the Belgian football agency DLF Sports.

Origi is also studying among the best in the world to become a top entrepreneur.

Those in Liverpool will remember him as a “legend”, but asked what he’d like to be remembered as, what Origi said was simple.

“A player who authentically fulfilled his purpose. A player who fully walked in who he was created to be, not just as a player, but as a man.”