WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny retired from professional soccer on Tuesday, two weeks after he left Juventus.
The 34-year-old Szczesny, who started his professional career at Arsenal, made 84 appearances for Poland with the last two at this summer's European Championship.
“I played the game at the highest level with the best players in history without ever feeling inferior,” he said on Instagram. "Everything that I have and everything that I am I owe to the beautiful game of football.”
Szczesny joined Arsenal's academy from Legia Warsaw in 2006 as a teenager and was on loan at Brentford (2009-10) before his five years with the Gunners. He played a total of 181 times for Arsenal, helping the club win the FA Cup in his final game there. He was the joint-winner of the Golden Glove award in 2013-14 with Petr Cech.
He signed with Juventus in 2017 after a two-year loan to Roma. Earlier in August, Juventus and Szczesny agreed to terminate his contract.
Szczesny made 252 appearances for Juventus and helped the Italian powerhouse win three Italian league titles, three Italian Cups and two Italian Super Cups.
"I feel that right now it is time to give all of my attention to my family," Szczesny said.
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FILE - Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny watches a header from Manchester United's Ji-Sung Park go into the goal during their English Premier League soccer match at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, Monday Dec. 13, 2010. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S, maker of blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, said Friday its CEO was stepping down by “mutual agreement” with the company's board of directors, citing “recent market challenges” and a steep decline in the company's share price.
Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen's departure comes a week after the company downgraded its sales and profits forecast, and follows a more than 50% decline in the company's shares since mid-2024. Shares had skyrocketed after the introduction of Wegovy and diabetes medicine Ozempic, which are both based on the same basic ingredient, semaglutide.
At the peak, the company's market capitalization - or the combined price of all its shares - exceeded Denmark's annual gross domestic product and made it Europe's most valuable company, a title it has since lost to software maker SAP.
The company said May 7 that Wegovy sales in the U.S. had been undercut by cheaper replica drugs produced by so-called compounding pharmacies using active ingredients of patented drugs in case of shortage. The Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. drug regulator, has said however that the shortages have eased and the replicas will have to cease in the coming months.
The drugs are part of a wave of obesity medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists that also includes another Novo weight loss drug, Saxenda. They have soared in popularity due to the amount of weight people lose while taking the injections.
On Sunday a study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing people lost more weight using competitor drug Zepbound, made by Eli Lilly of Indianapolis. The study, the first head-to-head comparison of the two, was funded by Lilly. Novo Nordisk's share price is down 54% from its peak in June 2024. Its U.S.-listed shares fell another 3% in morning trading Friday.
The company, headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, praised a “significant growth journey and transformation” led by Jorgensen during his eight years as CEO. He has been with the company since 1991.
“The changes are, however, made in light of the recent market challenges Novo Nordisk has been facing, and the development of the company’s share price since mid-2024,” the company said in a statement. The board and Jorgensen “have jointly concluded that initiating a CEO succession is in the best interest of the company and its shareholders.”
Jorgensen will continue as CEO “for a period” to support a smooth transition.
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AP Health Writer Tom Murphy contributed from Indianapolis.
Boxes for the medications Wegovy and Zepbound are arranged for a photograph in California on Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/JoNel Aleccia)
FILE - Novo Nordisk headquarters in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix via AP, File)