Borussia Dortmund and Germany defender Niklas Süle will retire at the end of the season at the age of 30, when his contract with the club runs out, the report says.
Süle told the “Spielmacher” podcast that he reached the decision after a knee injury suffered when Dortmund played Heidenheim in February. He said a drawer test in the dressing room suggested there was no resistance, which led him to believe the cruciate ligament had torn; he described going to the shower and crying for ten minutes because he thought the ligament was ruined.
The following day, an MRI showed the ligament was not torn, and Süle said that news made his choice clear. He said he could not imagine planning for the freedoms of life outside football — being independent, going on holiday and spending time with his children — only to then have to face a third cruciate ligament tear.
The report notes Süle has played for Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim and has appeared 299 times in the Bundesliga. Before joining Dortmund in 2022, he won five Bundesliga titles with Bayern and was part of the team that won the Champions League in 2020. He has been capped by Germany 49 times. With Dortmund, he narrowly missed the Bundesliga title in 2022-23 and reached the Champions League final in 2024, which the club lost to Real Madrid, the report says.
Süle reflected on his four years in Dortmund, saying he enjoyed dressing-room banter, the stadium atmosphere with around 80,000 people and the warm reception from fans. He said he felt at home in the city, that his children attend nursery there, and that leaving will be difficult, per the report.
