Defender to stay at Borussia Dortmund for rest of career‘I would have been so happy for Gerrard if he’d won the title’

Mats Hummels has said he is not tempted to move to Manchester United or any other club, adding that what he has at Borussia Dortmund “is truly unique”. The defender, who joined on loan from Bayern Munich in 2008 and then permanently the following year, added that if he moves abroad, it will not be because of money.

Speaking to Bundesliga Magazin International, out this week, he was asked whether he was tempted by interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid or Barcelona. “It’s nice to hear that big clubs like that are interested in you,” he said. “I take that as a compliment but it doesn’t influence me in any way, otherwise. We earn enough here in Dortmund.

“There will always be someone who can pay more than BVB but Dortmund have made a lot of progress during my time here. In any case I believe it’s enough for me. If one day I start thinking about playing abroad, money won’t be the reason. I don’t even think about that at the moment. We still have so much further to go here.”

Hummels, who won the World Cup with Germany in Brazil, was linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer but makes it clear he sees himself staying at Dortmund for the rest of his career, citing the examples of Paolo Maldini and Steven Gerrard as players who have had successful careers at one club.

“There are some [who stay at one club for their whole careers], and they are all really great players. Paolo Maldini of Milan, for example, or Steven Gerrard. I would have been so happy for him if he had won the championship with Liverpool. [Lionel] Messi always plays for Barcelona. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Thomas Müller, too, will perhaps play in Munich for ever.”

The 25-year-old added that any player from the team who won the Bundesliga title in 2012 could have joined clubs who pay more but the fact most of them stayed has ensured they have created a special atmosphere at the club.

“People often speak about the Dortmund ‘project’ in that context but I don’t really like that word,” Hummels said. “It’s too unemotional and sounds so technical. I’ve been here for six and a half years and it’s simply more exciting and more difficult to win trophies as an underdog.

“Everybody can win things with 25 superstars in the squad. At BVB, every single player has more responsibility but also more opportunity. It’s difficult to win trophies with Dortmund but it’s always possible. And when it happens, the feeling is simply indescribable.

“When we won the championship for a second time in 2012, each one of us could have gone wherever we wanted. But I thought: ‘No, what we have here is something truly unique.’ I’m happy I felt this way. You don’t often find a team where people are really friends with each other. If you’ve got the chance to play at such a high level with your mates you have to hold on to that for as long as possible.”