German defender Niklas Suele announces his retirement from football at the age of 30

German defender and former Bayern Munich centre-back Niklas Suele has decided to retire from football at the age of just 30 at the end of the season.

In an appearance on the Spielmacher podcast on Thursday, Suele said he had made the decision to hang up his boots after injuring his knee in a match against Hoffenheim last month.

“When I went for an MRI the next day and got the good news (that it wasn’t an ACL tear after all), it was 1,000% clear to me that it was over,” Suele said.

“I couldn’t imagine anything worse than looking forward to life – being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my kids – only to have to come to terms with my third ACL tear.”

Suele played 49 times for Germany and won the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2017.

At club level, he peaked at Bayern, winning five Bundesliga titles and was part of the team that won the continental treble in 2020.

He moved to Dortmund in 2022.

Published on May 7, 2026