Ends his career in the summer: Niklas Süle – rain jacket in the sauna and tears in the shower

As of: May 7, 2026 • 10:18 p.m

Niklas Süle, 30, will end his career in the summer. About a highly gifted footballer who didn’t always live up to his potential.

If in just over a month the… footballWorld Cup begins, Niklas Süle will not be there. Although the 30-year-old is still in his prime as a footballer and has already played 49 international matches for the German national team. But the professional of Borussia Dortmundwho was once considered the greatest German central defender talent, will end his active career.

“I would like to announce that I will end my career in the summer,” said the central defender Expiring contract in Dortmund was not extendedon the “Playmaker” podcast. The decision to do so was finally made after Dortmund’s game against his former club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim three weeks ago.

Tears in the shower

During the 1:2, Süle injured his knee and tore his cruciate ligament, which is what initially struck him. “In that situation I really thought: ‘It’s torn,’ said Süle. ‘I went into the shower and cried for ten minutes.’ The next day he realized ‘a thousand percent’ that it was over after he got the news that it wasn’t a torn cruciate ligament after all.

“I couldn’t imagine anything worse than actually looking forward to the time afterwards – being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my children – but then having to deal with my third cruciate ligament tear,” Süle continued.

Injuries again and again

In the end, it was irrelevant that it wasn’t one at all and that he might even play against Eintracht from his hometown Frankfurt on Friday and again in the final game of the season at Werder Bremen a week later.

Süle looks back on a successful sporting career, which, however, was repeatedly overshadowed by injuries. Two cruciate ligament tears during his time at Hoffenheim and in Munich as well as numerous minor injuries forced him to take breaks for days, weeks and months. His podcast comments make it clear how much the many injuries during his career and the reports of his obvious fitness problems must have gnawed at him.

Wearing a rain jacket in the sauna before your weekly weigh-in

“That always haunted me,” said Süle and reported on his time at Bayern, with whom he became German champions five times and won the Champions League once. Under the then coach Jupp Heynckes, who valued him just as much as Kovac did at Bayern and in Dortmund, he never ate anything on Wednesdays and sat in the sauna in the evenings wearing a rain jacket. “And the next day I had two and a half kilos less,” said Süle. Because it was time for Bayern to go on the scales every week.

Very few other defenders in Germany had or have his potential. He will have the stigma of having accessed this too rarely and, above all, not consistently enough. In the end, only he will know why. “We want to get him fit as quickly as possible,” Kovac announced at the start of his term in office. Even he, with whom Süle once said he had a “fixed place” in Munich, did not manage to do this.

National coach Julian Nagelsmann, who once helped Süle make his professional debut as coach of Hoffenheim at the age of 17 and later trained him in Munich, also tried to push him again and again: “He said to me in my last year at Bayern: ‘You’ll play for me even if you have five kilos more – because I know what you’re like.'”

Missed championship as the most emotional moment

Süle, who moved to BVB from FC Bayern on a free transfer in the summer of 2022, felt comfortable in the Ruhr area despite his problems. “I was always openly welcomed by the fans. I will miss that time very much. How comfortable I felt here. I noticed on the first day what the people in Dortmund are like: open, warm, honest,” said Süle, for whom the first season in Dortmund was particularly formative, when BVB narrowly missed out on the championship on the last matchday.

“What I experienced in my first year when we almost became champions – the evening in the hotel, the way to the stadium. What I felt there is what I only felt before my first professional game – the nervousness, the excitement,” explained the defender. “That was one of the craziest moments I ever had before the Mainz game. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to feel that way again in my life – with that adrenaline.”

Strong connection to the city and club

When he now looks back on the four years in Dortmund, “there were many moments that I enjoyed,” said Süle. “The cabin chatter, the stadium – we’re talking about 80,000 here.” He was always openly welcomed by the fans. “I will miss that time very much. How comfortable I felt here. On the first day I noticed what the people in Dortmund are like: open, warm, honest. I felt extremely connected to that,” said the 30-year-old, describing his relationship with the city and the club. “My children go to daycare here. It’s difficult for us to leave here.”

In his four years at BVB, Süle played 109 games in which he scored three goals. There should no longer be another club. He still has two match days left to break the 300 mark after 299 Bundesliga games so far. After that, he and his body no longer have to deal with sports injuries and fitness debates. Instead, he can finally look forward to vacation and time with his children.

Our sources:

Broadcast: WDR.de“BVB defender Niklas Süle ends career”, May 7, 20268:38 p.m