Former Aston Villa, Chelsea, Norwich City, Reading, Nottingham Forest and Southampton man retires at 34

Former Aston Villa defender Ryan Bertrand has announced he is retiring from professional football.

Bertrand had been a free agent since being released from Leicester City in 2023 after their relegation and spent the 2023/24 season as a free agent. The 34-year-old has now confirmed that he will be bringing to an end a 17-year playing career that began with Chelsea in 2006.

Appearing on Sky Sports on Tuesday (June 18), Bertrand said: "Just to clarify officially I will be retiring from football.

"It's been a little while but I get asked a lot of questions - 'When are you coming back, what are you doing?'

"So, just to make that official I am retiring and very much looking forward to the next steps."

Bertrand came through the academy at Gillingham before being signed by Chelsea for £125,000 in 2005. He had loan spells at AFC Bournemouth, Oldham Athletic, Norwich City, Reading and Nottingham Forest before establishing himself at Chelsea. During his time at Stamford Bridge, he won the FA Cup, UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Bertrand had a loan spell at Villa in the 2013/14 season and played 16 times for the Villains as they finished 15th under Paul Lambert. He was sold to Southampton in February 2015 for an undisclosed fee after initially joining on loan and ended up playing 240 times for the Saints before moving on to Leicester City in 2021. Bertrand featured for the Foxes a total of 11 times over two seasons before calling it quits on his career.