Arsenal academy chief Per Mertesacker has been invited to join the advisory board of the German national team by general manager Oliver Bierhoff.

World Cup winner Mertesacker retired from international football in 2014 having won 104 caps for Die Mannschaft. He would end his club career four years later.

Mertesacker is the third member of the group, formed by Bierhoff in the aftermath of a disastrous World Cup defence that ended in the group stage, and joins former Germany head coach Berti Vogts and ex-Adidas CEO Herbet Hainer.

“Per will be part of the new expert advisory board,” Bierhoff told Bild. “Per is very much looking forward to the future task, has many interesting views and expresses his opinion.”

The role is not expected to have an impact on Mertesacker’s responsibilities at Arsenal, where he has headed up the Hale End academy since his retirement at the end of last season.

Mertesacker’s latest task is to find a replacement for Under-18s manager Kwame Ampadu, who left the club last week to join Thierry Henry’s coaching staff at Monaco.

Arsenal are yet to confirm who will serve as Ampadu’s replacement on a permanent basis but it is believed his former assistant Ken Gillard will step up for Saturday’s U18 Premier League game against Reading.