Per Mertesacker plans to have discussions with interim academy head Luke Hobbs ahead of his new role at Arsenal.

The German will retire from playing at the end of the season to become the club’s new academy director. Currently, the role is occupied by interim head Luke Hobbs, who stepped in after Andries Jonker departed for Wolfsburg last March.

Mertesacker doesn’t have a background in coaching or in management, but has been trusted with a very important role at the club. While he’ll be ensuring he’s ready to take to the field at any point during this season, I believe he’ll also be preparing for his new role by having discussions with Hobbs about what he can expect.

“That’s going to come. We’ve met a couple of times when I helped him welcome a few youngsters to our club, which meant a lot to me,” Mertesacker told Arsenal.com. “I’ve visited Hale End already and have seen him a couple of times. He’s helpful to me and will be very helpful to me when we talk about what’s going on in the academy.

“He’s got the look at the moment but, in my transition year from being a player to taking on this Academy role, there’s going to be a lot of discussions over where he sees himself in the future. It’s all about assessment for me, to know how it works. At the moment, I can only tell how youngsters look in first-team training. That’s my overall look at things.

“In the next year there will be lots for me to learn, to see how it works and make starting my new role easier. It’s going to be a huge transition and there are going to be a lot of challenges for me. I can just predict a few, but there will certainly be some things that I cannot predict now.

“I feel so welcomed here by this club and by the idea of taking over at such a young age. The people here believe in my abilities to grow and to learn without having any background in coaching or managing. That gives me confidence, even when I’m feeling uncomfortable being confident to overcome these situations.”

Having amassed 528 club appearances and 104 caps for Germany in his career, Mertesacker should be able to offer a wealth of experience and knowledge to the young players at Arsenal, I feel.

From what I’ve seen, he’s a very down-to-earth and intelligent figure at the club, which should set a good example for the youngsters to follow. Mertesacker joined Arsenal from Werder Bremen in 2011 and helped steady the club during a very difficult period.

Since then, he’s established himself as one the key leaders at the club and has won three FA Cups.