Borussia Dortmund announced on Friday that defender Mats Hummels will leave after 13 years at the club.
Hummels’ departure comes a day after coach Edin Terzic surprisingly announced he would leave the club, just two weeks after taking them to the Champions League final.
During two stints at Dortmund, Hummels won two league titles and two German Cups, along with reaching the Champions League final in 2013 and 2024.
“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,” Hummels said in a statement.
“I will be cheering from afar and hopefully in the stadium from time to time. I will miss you.”
Hummels, 35, wound back the clock this campaign in Dortmund’s run to the Champions League final and was named in the UEFA Team of the Season.
The centre-back was publicly critical of Terzic’s tactics in the lead-up to the Wembley final, in particular the coach’s focus on defensive rather than attacking football.
Hummels said Dortmund had been “submissive” and felt he had his “honour insulted to stand on the pitch in the (Dortmund) kit.”
The 2014 World Cup winner has previously said he will keep playing, preferring a move to another club in Germany or elsewhere in Europe to stay close to his son, who lives in Munich.
German media reported Hummels had attracted interest from Serie A side AC Milan.
Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who played alongside Hummels at the club, said “Without a doubt, we are losing an outstanding personality in Mats Hummels,” calling the defender “one of the last of his kind in football.”
“During his career, Mats not only shaped BVB but also raised the central defender game to a new level worldwide. He won titles with us, not least the first double in our club’s history.
Hummels left Dortmund for boyhood side Bayern Munich in 2016 and returned in 2019. He joins another Dortmund veteran, forward Marco Reus, to leave the club this season.
AFP