Munich, May 7 (IANS) UEFA Champions League winner and five-time Bundesliga Champion Niklas Sule has announced a shock retirement at the age of 30 after an injury scare forced him to reconsider his decision on the future. German International player will put an end to his enormous career at the end of the season once his contract with Borussia Dortmund expires.

The 30-year-old defender made the announcement on the Spielmacher podcast. Sule explained that he has been considering the option for a while, but he finally made the decision after he injured his knee against Hoffenheim in mid-April and feared it was a third cruciate ligament tear.

“What I felt when our doctor did the drawer test in the dressing room at Hoffenheim, when he looked at the physio and shook his head, and the physio did it too and didn’t feel any resistance either. I went into the shower and cried for 10 minutes. In that moment, I really thought it had torn," he said in the podcast.

“When I went for the MRI the next day and got the good news that it wasn’t a cruciate ligament tear, it was a thousand percent clear to me that it was over. I couldn’t imagine anything worse than actually looking forward to the time afterwards – being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my children – only to then have to come to terms with my third cruciate ligament tear,” the 30-year-old added.

Sule has a vast career in club football. The defender played 299 games in the Bundesliga for Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich, and Dortmund. He has lifted the trophy five times and was part of Bayern’s treble-winning team in 2020.

However, injuries, including two previous ACL tears and subsequent fitness issues, have hampered the big centre-back throughout his career since making his senior debut as a 17-year-old.

Sule has also represented his country, Germany, 49 times in his career. He took part in two World Cups and also won the Confederations Cup in 2017 with the team.

--IANS

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