Mats Hummels signs a new deal at Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels has agreed to extend his contract with the Bundesliga champions till the summer of 2017, the club confirmed on its official website. The 23-year-old German international had a couple of years remaining on his current contract but Dortmund hurried him into signing a three year extension with his growing demand in the transfer market. BvB sporting director Michael Zorc announced:

We are pleased that a key player like Mats Hummels has signed a new long-term deal. He’s not only very important defensively, but plays a key role in our build-up play as well.

Hummels, who played for Bayern Munich during his youth career, joined Dortmund permanently in 2009 after a season long loan spell at the club. His ability to tackle, intercept and his sense of positioning soon earned him praise from coaches across the world and a couple of big European clubs were said to be interested in the 6ft 3in sturdy defender. Hummels said:

As soon as the club approached me and asked if I would like to extend, I knew immediately that I want to continue being part of this team, which is so successful and is so much fun to be in.

Head coach Jurgen Klopp expressed his delight at the defender’s decision to extend his stay and said:

Mats Hummels could have joined pretty much every team in Europe, but has opted to stay at Dortmund instead. This is an outstanding development for the club.

Mats is a highly-intelligent player in terms of winning tackles and closing people down and I don’t know anybody across the whole continent who does it as well as he.