Borussia Dortmund defender Niklas Suele has announced that he will retire from professional football at the end of the season.
The 30 year old German international confirmed his decision during an appearance on the Spielmacher podcast on Thursday.
Suele revealed that he decided to step away from football after suffering a knee injury during Dortmund’s recent match against Hoffenheim last month.
Although medical scans later confirmed the injury was not a cruciate ligament tear, the experienced defender admitted the scare convinced him it was the right time to end his playing career.
“When I went for an MRI the next day and received the good news that it wasn’t a cruciate ligament tear after all, it was 1000 percent clear to me that it was over,” Suele said.
“I couldn’t imagine anything worse than looking forward to life, being independent, going on holiday and spending time with my children, only to then have to come to terms with my third cruciate ligament tear.”
Suele enjoyed a successful career at both club and international level.
He began his professional journey at Hoffenheim before joining Bayern Munich in 2017.
During his time at Bayern, the defender won five Bundesliga titles and lifted the UEFA Champions League trophy in 2020.
He later joined Borussia Dortmund in 2022 and became an important figure in the club’s defence.
Suele also represented Germany 49 times during his international career.
Borussia Dortmund are currently second in the Bundesliga standings and will face Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday before concluding their league season away to Werder Bremen on May 16.
