Mats Hummels has revealed that his departure to Bayern Munich from Borussia Dortmund was partly affected when he learnt Ilkay Gundogan and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were both leaving.
The trio are the three players that Dortmund have sold this summer, with Gundogan going to Manchester City and Mkhitaryan’s move to Manchester United confirmed on Wednesday.
Hummels was the first of the trio to see his move confirmed at the end of the May, with Gundogan’s coming a couple of weeks later at the start of June.
Speaking to RevierSport Hummels admitted that the transfers of his two former team-mates had played a role in him deciding to leave.
“There were many reasons as to why I left, and I do not want to go into them all individually now,” he said. “In the end I knew quite early that Ilkay (Gündogan) would go and I knew from Micki (Henrikh Mkhitaryan) his intentions as well. This played in my decision.
“This looks like a small break-up , but Dortmund continues to have a highly talented group. It is certainly a promising team due to the fact that so many young players are there.”
He also went on to say that he was impressed with the players Dortmund had brought in and that he didn’t think they would struggle.
So far Dortmund have acted quickly in the transfer window, bringing in Mikel Merino, Emre Mor, Marc Bartra, Raphael Guerreiro, Seb Rode and Ousmane Dembele.
Hummels has made four appearances during the Euros but he will be suspended for Germany’s semi-final against France having picked up two yellow cards.
He is expected to return to the first team should Germany beat the hosts in their game, where they would face either Portugal or Wales.
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