Top-tier athlete Mats Hummels secures a fresh team affiliation
Mats Hummels is joining forces with Roma. The almost 36-year-old, whose agreement with Dortmund expired after the previous season, was officially welcomed by the Italians on their platform. Hummels will don the number 15 jersey.
The World Cup winner has already landed in Rome. His arrival was met with chants of "Hummels, Hummels, Welcome" at the airport, to which he replied with a "Forza Roma" before addressing the important matters of his career. The medical assessment and contract signing were on his agenda. The club conveyed their excitement, welcoming Hummels and praising his "massive international experience." After sealing the deal, Hummels showed off his new jersey to the camera, sporting a smile.
Hummels is set to play for the Roma in the Europa League for at least one season, with no details on the contract length provided. This will mark his first stint outside Germany, having previously played for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Following the non-renewal of his contract at Dortmund at the end of last season, he became a free agent, making a transfer possible even after the end of the transfer period last August.
Hummels is reportedly on a one-year contract with an option for another year based on a specific number of appearances. The central defender is expected to earn around 2.5 million euros annually, along with potential bonuses. Roma can now register the former German national star for the upcoming Europa League season. The Serie A club will face opponents like Dynamo Kyiv, Tottenham Hotspur, and Eintracht Frankfurt.
Dortmund and Munich are the only clubs he knows
Rumors swirled over the summer about the 78-time German national team member. He was in talks with Spanish clubs Real Sociedad and RCD Mallorca, with some German media even suggesting a move to the popular German holiday island. Hummels humorously reacted to the rumors but remained tight-lipped throughout the summer.
Additional offers reportedly came from the North American professional league, MLS. More concrete were the talks with Brighton & Hove Albion from the Premier League and Italian Champions League participant FC Bologna. Ultimately, Hummels turned down the offer from Brighton, led by the 31-year-old German superstar coach Fabian Hürzeler. He also had reservations about Bologna, another club that began the new season with two draws and a defeat.
Throughout his career, Hummels has only played for the two German top-tier clubs, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Raised at the record champion, he quickly became an integral part of Dortmund's championship team under legendary coach Jürgen Klopp. In 2016, he returned to Munich, presumably for family reasons, and three years later, the defender born in Bergisch Gladbach returned to Dortmund's Borsigplatz.
Hummels played 118 competitive matches for FC Bayern, debuting in the Bundesliga on May 19, 2007, in a 5-2 win over Mainz. For Borussia Dortmund, he played 508 competitive matches, only trailing long-serving sporting director Michael Zorc, who played 572 games for the BVB between 1981 and 1998.
His final appearance for Borussia Dortmund was in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Prior to the 0:2, he caused a stir with an interview. In "Sport Bild," he severely criticized the then-BVB coach, Edin Terzic, asserting that he felt his "honor was compromised wearing this jersey, feeling so submissive, so inferior on the football pitch." He was referring to Dortmund's first half of the 2023/2024 season. With that interview, he potentially closed the door on a future at Signal Iduna Park, even though Terzic announced his departure shortly after the Wembley final.
Reflecting on a stellar second half of the season with Dortmund's jersey, Hummels surprisingly missed out on the 2024 European Championship in his home country. Hints from national coach Julian Nagelsmann suggested that Hummels' dominating character may have played a role in his exclusion from the squad. To kick off the 2024/25 Bundesliga season, Hummels unexpectedly appeared at FC Augsburg's stadium, but he was there only with his current partner, Nicola Cavani, a supporter of the Swabian side.
After a summer of speculation, the six-time German champion is now setting off for Rome to conclude his long and successful career, marked by controversies over his influence on his teams' locker rooms.
Borussia Dortmund expressed their gratitude for Hummels' services, praising his contributions to the team over the years. Mats Hummels shared a heartfelt farewell message for his former club, acknowledging that Borussia Dortmund and Munich have held a special place in his heart.
