Bundesliga
Mats Hummels leaves Borussia Dortmund
Mats Hummels will leave BVB. Photo
© Robert Michael/dpa
After Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund will lose Mats Hummels in the summer, another influential player of the past few years. The 35-year-old’s contract will not be extended.
With outstanding games, he played a major role in BVB reaching the Champions League final last season. The 0-2 defeat in the final at Wembley Stadium against Real Madrid on June 1st marked the end of the 2014 world champion’s BVB career. The professional did not initially reveal what will happen to Hummels. On Thursday evening, the “Ruhr Nachrichten” was the first to report on the veteran’s departure.
In a statement, the defender was quoted as saying: “Dear fans, my time in black and yellow is now coming to an end after a total of over 13 years. It was a huge honour and joy for me to have played for BVB for so long and to have been part of the journey from 13th place in January 2008 to what Borussia Dortmund represents today. This club and its fans are something very special – and for me, much more than that.”
Title with BVB and Bayern
Unlike Marco Reus, who is also leaving Dortmund, Hummels’ career at BVB has been more varied. The Bergisch Gladbach native was trained in the youth team of FC Bayern Munich and made his professional debut there in 2007.
In January 2008, he moved to Dortmund on loan for the first time, where he won the German championship in 2011 and 2012. In the summer of 2009, BVB bought him outright. Seven years later, the now experienced international player returned to Bayern as a world champion. Hummels celebrated three more championships with the record champions. In the summer of 2019, he returned to the Ruhr area. He won the cup again with BVB in 2021.
“Mats was one of the key players in BVB football over the past 15 years,” said BVB managing director Lars Ricken. “Now our paths are parting, and it is without a doubt never easy for anyone involved to make such decisions. Mats will forever be part of BVB’s history books. We owe a lot to this player, and Mats also owes a lot to this extraordinary club.”
Hummels played 442 Bundesliga games (33 goals) and 90 Champions League games (five goals). Hummels made his last of 78 international appearances last November in the 0-2 defeat in Austria. He was not nominated for the home European Championship. His inopportune interview shortly before the Champions League final against Real Madrid (0-2) in the “Sport Bild”, in which the 35-year-old veteran had clearly criticized the work of coach Edin Terzic, was not well received by the management. The departure of the previous head coach does not change that. Hummels commented on the latest headlines about the coaching shake-up in Dortmund and his possible departure on Instagram on Thursday evening: “Summarizing today will be a challenge for me too.” He accompanied the message with a laughing emoji.