The former Liverpool and Queens Park Rangers striker Djibril Cissé broke down in tears as he announced his retirement from football on Monday, aged 34.

Cissé, who played for 12 different clubs and made 41 appearances for France, was without a club after leaving Bastia last season and brings the curtain down on a career that began with Auxerre in 1998.

After leaving Auxerre in 2004 Cissé spent five years with Liverpool where he won the Champions League and the FA Cup, netting 24 goals in all, before returning to England on loan at Sunderland in 2008 and to QPR in 2012.

Announcing his decision on French television, Cissé became tearful during a tribute from Guy Roux, his manager at Auxerre. “The body says stop, now it’s over,” Cissé told Canal+. “I can’t practise high-level football.”