Borussia Dortmund defender Niklas Sule to retire at end of season

[p] "I want to announce that I will retire this summer," said [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sule-niklas/G43Lp4in/"]Sule[/a], whose contract with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/dortmund/nP1i5US1/"]Borussia Dortmund[/a] expires on June 30th. The currently injured centre-back has played 299 Bundesliga matches and made 49 appearances for the national team.[/p][image alt="Sule season stats" id="f8744357-76c6-411d-96e1-49e320143310" credit-line="Harry Langer / DeFodi Images / Profimedia / Opta by StatsPerform" guid="79aa4f9f-b8c7-4ac2-b4e6-b331ef66f9e2" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]According to his own account, Sule had been considering hanging up his boots for some time. He made the final decision after the match in mid-April at his former club [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/hoffenheim/hQAtP9Sl/"]TSG Hoffenheim[/a], where he suffered a knee injury.[/p][p]Sule joined Dortmund from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] in the summer of 2022. Since then, he has played 109 competitive matches for BVB, scoring three goals.[/p][h2]Health comes first[/h2][p]"[b]What I felt when our doctor did the drawer test in the dressing room at Hoffenheim, looked at the physio and shook his head, then the physio did it too and also didn't feel a stop, I went into the shower and cried for 10 minutes[/b]," Sule said.[/p][image alt="Sule had persistent bad luck with injuries throughout his career" id="468ab4bc-1d66-48ea-9978-30c95c28e482" credit-line="Heiko Becker, HMB Media / Alamy / Profimedia" guid="100517ff-5a8f-4c22-91a5-a2411397585d" original-width="1400" original-height="933" /][p]The fear of suffering a third cruciate ligament tear weighed heavily on him. After the MRI and the all-clear, it was '1000 per cent clear' to him 'that it was over'.[/p][p]One of the most emotional moments for him was almost winning the league in his first season with Dortmund. "[b]That was one of the most intense moments I've ever experienced, right before the Mainz match[/b]," Sule said about the final day of the 2022/23 season.[/p][p]In his second season with Dortmund, Sule also reached the Champions League final.[/p]