So, the time has come. Over 13 years in black and yellow are coming to an end for me. Dortmund has been my home for over 13 years. It's Thursday, June 13th, and I'm sitting on the couch in the evening, trying to put these thoughts into words. It's incredibly difficult for me.
It’s really difficult for me. I’m particularly sad about the way it’s ending, because this impersonal farewell does not do our time together justice. But unfortunately, that's the way it is in this business sometimes, and the day will come when we will make up for it together in front of the yellow wall.
I chose this farewell to some extent because I deliberately did not want to make an early decision about my future. That's why the last few months were really challenging for me emotionally, because it was always clear that they could be my last in black and yellow.
Many of you surely noticed how much I enjoyed everything about the last home games and the Champions League final. Sitting alone by the post after the game in the most beautiful temple in the world, soaking in the atmosphere and standing in front of the south stand while everyone sang my name. Pure goosebumps, even as I look back on it now. That was and is a great honor, and I will never forget it.
Please do me a favor and don't believe everything you’ve read in the past few days. There have been a lot of untruths and half-truths. Just know this: throughout all these years, BVB has always meant everything to me and I always wanted the best for the club, on and off the pitch. The influence of a 35-year-old player who doesn't know how his career will continue after the summer has certainly not been as great in recent months as it was sometimes made out to be in the media.
We’ve experienced so much together in these years, from the gray league times at the beginning, with my first personal DFB-Pokal final in 2008, to the upswing under Jürgen Klopp and the years that were almost like a frenzy—years with so many highlights that I can't even list them all. The won and lost finals. The last place standing at the beginning of 2015, which couldn't really be, and the run back to 7th place by the end of the season. Two Champions League finals and recently, unfortunately, two big missed title dreams.
What pleased me most, though, was how I was welcomed back in 2019 after my transfer back to BVB, and I hope you noticed: I tried everything and tore myself apart for the black and yellow jersey and for success.
There is nothing like the South Stand. A few weeks ago, I was called the ‘bricklayer of the Yellow Wall'. I'll hang that above my BVB trophy cabinet! I’m incredibly proud of it.
I will miss everything about this great club. See you around.
Another legend leaves BVB, apparently a new era begins in Dortmund but it is still a big loss for the team, Not many players can demonstrate such a level at an advanced age
A leader, a warrior who gave everything until his last breath in the field and for me one of the best defenders from the last decade.
Beyond all the gossip and rumors of what may have happened in the locker room, I never doubt his professionalism and how he carried the team to Wembley along with Jule Maybe to a greater or lesser extent they have been the fundamental pillars to reach that final in which unfortunately it was not possible to be crowned.