Roma defender and 2014 World Cup winner Mats Hummels has officially announced that he will retire from professional football at the end of the 2024-25 campaign. “I’m fighting with my emotions right now.”
Hummels joined Roma as a free agent in September following the expiry of his contract with Borussia Dortmund. He put pen to paper on a one-year contract with the option to extend for a further 12 months, a clause that will not be exercised.
“I’m fighting with my emotions right now,” the 26-year-old said in a retirement announcement video on Friday.
“Now comes the moment that no footballer can avoid. After 18 years and so many different things that football has given me, I will end my career this summer.”
A five-time Bundesliga champion, twice with Borussia Dortmund, three times with Bayern Munich, Hummels is among considered one of Germany’s finest defenders of the 21st century.
His career began in the Bayern Munich youth ranks, but made his Bundesliga breakthrough with Dortmund, initially joining on loan for the 2008-09 season, before signing on a permanent deal in 2009.
From there, he would go on to earn legendary status with the Die Borussen, making over 300 competitive appearances, while helping the team to the 2010-11 and 2011-12 Bundesliga titles, as well as the 2011-12 DFL Pokal trophy. Dortmund also lost narrowly in the 2012-13 Champions League final to rivals Bayern Munich.
He was also a mainstay in the Germany national team squad that won the 2014 World Cup, and was part of the team that famously hammered the hosts by a 7-1 margin in the semi-final.
Like many before him, Robert Lewnadowski and Mario Goetze among them, Hummels made the switch from Dortmund to Bayern in 2016, and would go on to win three consecutive Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal and three German Supercup titles before switching back to Dortmund in 2019.
His second Dortmund spell brought another DFB Pokal, another German Supercup and another Champions League final appearance.
His final year in professional football has been spent in the Italian capital with Roma, where life has not always been smooth sailing. He joined on a free transfer, officially announced on September 4, but head coach Daniele De Rossi was dismissed a fortnight later, just four games into the 2024-25 campaign.
Having missed pre-season, it took a while for Hummels to get up to match fitness, but De Rossi’s replacement, Ivan Juric seemed reluctant to field the German veteran during his tenure even when he was available to play.
Fortunately for Hummels, Juric’s spell in charge of the Giallorossi did not last long, and he was soon replaced by Claudio Ranieri, who has reinstated the German as a key figure in his back three.
