The Borussia Dortmund exodus to bitter rivals Bayern Munich looks set to continue.
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On Thursday BVB announced that central defender and captain Mats Hummels wants to join his former club and the reigning German champions Bayern Munich.
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In a statement on Dortmund’s website on Thursday, the Bundesliga outfit confirmed Hummels’ intentions to leave them this summer for Bayern.
Hummels has one-year remaining on his current contract at Dortmund.
Here’s the statement in full:Defender Mats Hummels has communicated his desire to leave the club in the summer and wants to join league rivals Bayern Munich next season.
Borussia Dortmund’s Board has subsequently decided to make such a change depends on whether Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund will commence a player the extraordinary value corresponding, extremely its value and range. So far, Bayern Munich has not made an offer.
As a precaution, it is pointed out that with Mats Hummels - as at present with all other players from Borussia Dortmund - no exit clause has been agreed and the player is logically tied to June 30, 2017 Borussia Dortmund.
Hummels joined Bayern as a six-year-old and was at the Bavarian giants from 1995 until 2009 when he left to play regularly for Jurgen Klopp at Dortmund. Under Klopp he became a star in Dortmund’s two title winning seasons and was a World Cup winner with Germany in Brazil in 2014.
If Hummels does leave Dortmund for Munich this summer, he would become the third big-name player to switch the Westfalenstadion for the Allianz Arena in recent years. That is perhaps the bigger talking point here. Just why are so many of Dortmund’s star men jumping ship to Bayern when they get the chance?
Dortmund previously lost star striker Robert Lewandowski and playmaker Mario Gotze to Munich. Lewandowksi moved on in a similar fashion and signed a pre-contract agreement with Bayern as a free agent after Dortmund refused to sell him the summer before his deal with them ran out. Gotze’s move was also controversial as Bayern met the release clause in his contract the week before the 2012-13 UEFA Champions League final between the two clubs at Wembley. Bayern won 2-1 and Gotze missed the final for Dortmund.
It remains to be seen if Hummels will move on this summer but now this statement has been released it seems highly unlikely the German defender will remain at Dortmund. German journalist Raphael Hongstein points out that strict reporting laws in Germany over PLCs means that Dortmund had to release this statement about potential player movement in the future which could influence share prices and other factors.
Several Premier League teams have been reportedly interested in Hummels in the past but his desire to return to Bayern seems strong enough to see him remain in the Bundesliga.