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Former Arsenal player Henri Lansbury has announced his early retirement from football, and he’s got an unlikely new career move already lined up.
Lansbury is hanging up his boots at the age of 32 after playing for the north London side, as well as Aston Villa, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Norwich, Bristol City, Watford and most recently Luton.
However, he’s giving it all up to work with the grass fertiliser company called Grass Gains that he owns.
After working on Fulham’s playing surface, he’s set to join Monaco to develop the pitch.
Speaking about his retirement in a statement, he said: “I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who I have had the pleasure of working within the football world.
“From managers, coaches to teammates and to opponents – it’s been one hell of a ride!
Lansbury won promotion with Luton in his last seasonRichard Heathcote/Getty Images
“I’m so grateful for the amazing experiences – from the clubs that I have represented, being part of four promotions, to representing England at youth level and for the support I received whilst overcoming testicular cancer.
“The highs and the lows, I’ve loved every minute of it. Peace out and catch you all on the grass soon.”
Discussing his surprising new career, he said: "We’ve done Fulham, we’ve done Genk and we’re in at Monaco soon.
"We’re going in the right direction, a few local clubs have asked for it and we’ve put it down on their pitches as well.
"I want to give back to the local clubs really, I want them to have a nice pitch to play on, there’s nothing better than a kid running on a pitch with stripes on it and that’s what it does, it helps stripe it off."
Lansbury played the bulk of his football at Nottingham Forest, playing 150 times for the club between 2012 and 2017.
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