This Champions League-winning soccer star now works as a store clerk
Social media has been abuzz in recent days, after a former Barcelona player was snapped in the uniform of a major sports gear store.
For soccer players, many new career paths open up after retirement. Some build up business portfolios, some try their hand at punditry, and others set themselves up as sports agents. There’s also the option of becoming a streamer, like Sergio Agüero; a politician, like Hakan Şükür; or even a DJ, like Gaizka Mendieta.
However, former France defender Jérémy Mathieu, whose professional soccer career came to an end in 2020, looks to have gone in a different direction altogether.
From soccer star to store clerk
Mathieu, who was part of the FC Barcelona team that won a domestic and European treble in the 2014/15 season, is apparently working at a branch of a major French chain of sports equipment stores.
According to L’Équipe, Mathieu is employed at an Intersport store in Cabriès-Plan de Campagne, near the southern French city of Marseille.
Ever since a photo emerged of Mathieu apparently posing in an Intersport uniform, social media has been abuzz. Is it true that a Champions League winner now spends his days as a store clerk, or is it just another AI-generated photo?
L’Équipe says the store in question has been flooded with calls by people attempting to confirm whether the 41-year-old really is part of its staff.
Wsh Jeremy Mathieu il taff à intersport Jsjjsjsjs pic.twitter.com/WTQ05qUhD6
— lastpak ⵣ (@Ikbenenlastpak) April 5, 2025
“Just another employee”
Speaking in the French media, Intersport employees say the photo is real. “He’s very humble,” one of his colleagues told La Dépêche, stressing that the ex-soccer player’s “special status” is not a daily topic of conversation at the store.
Mathieu’s Intersport coworkers see him as “just another employee”, the individual said.
Considering the more than $2 million that Mathieu earned annually at his final professional club - Portugal’s Sporting CP - plus the $3m to $4m he made a year during his three seasons with Barça, this career move doesn’t seem to be financially motivated, but rather a personal choice.
The Frenchman, who won five senior international caps between 2011 and 2016, is also reported to be training to become a licensed soccer coach.
A multi-medal-winning soccer player
Mathieu’s playing career, which began in 2002, saw him turn out for Sochaux and Toulouse in France, before he moved to Spain for spells with Valencia and Barça. He then hung up his boots after three years with Sporting.
During his 18 seasons as a professional soccer player, Mathieu amassed a trophy haul that includes two LaLiga titles, two Copas del Rey, one Champions League, a Coupe de la Ligue and a Taça de Portugal.
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