Gareth Messenger -

When Mats Hummels completed a return to Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2019, he said he believes any trophies won with the Black and Yellow have more value than at any other club in Germany. 

Hummels made an emotional return to the club this summer, after a successful three-year stint at Bundesliga rivals and reigning German champions Bayern Munich. 

It was a move that hurt a lot of Dortmund supporters. Despite an overwhelming affection for the defender, his move to Bundesliga rivals Bayern was not greatly received. The feelings were mixed: sadness at his exit; betrayal at his decision to move to the enemy.

For Hummels himself, the move was a necessary one. He was a product of Bayern’s youth setup and played just one first team game in the 2006-07 season but struggled to make waves. It eventually brought about his move to Dortmund, initially on-loan.

Despite it being his first full season in senior football, Hummels became a regular in the Dortmund backline, forming a burgeoning relationship with recent acquisition Neven Subotic. Despite missing the final months though injury, Dortmund deemed his 16 league appearances as enough of a rehearsal for what they could expect and opted to sign Hummels permanently for as little as €4 million.

Everybody in Germany could see a successful future for Hummels at Dortmund, particularly with the flourishing squad Jurgen Klopp was building, which included the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Ilkay Gundogan and Mario Gotze.

Not many though could have predicted the sheer volume of trophies Hummels and co. would go onto win and how quickly Dortmund became a force to be reckoned with across the continent. 

Hummels clocked up over 300 appearances for Dortmund during his first spell at the Westfalenstadion, winning two league titles, including a domestic double in 2012 under Klopp, as well as helping the club reach the final of the Champions League in 2013. 

Then in 2016, after winning the FIFA World Cup along the way with Germany, and after Klopp had gone as well as the old guard of that sublime Dortmund side, Hummels’ time had come. It was a sore one for Hummels and the supporters. He was captain of his club and was reluctant to go, but he felt that the time was right to challenge himself again.

On 10 May 2016, it was confirmed that Hummels would re-join Bayern Munich from 1 July 2016, signing a five-year contract. His first game was a 2-0 win in the Super Cup over his old team, Dortmund. The pain was greater for a fanbase who had already seen Lewandowski and Gotze cross the red line.

Hummels’ move to Bavaria was, as expected, a fruitful one in terms of trophies. In his three seasons with Bayern, the club won the Bundesliga title on every occasion as well as three German Super Cups and the DFB-Pokal trophy in his final season. But despite all the success, it wasn’t all plain sailing at the Allianz Arena. Hummels was criticized for his comments after the 3-2 loss against Dortmund on 10 November 2018.

Hummels blamed his poor performance on him being sick when he said he had blurred vision, but he still decided to play the match. He was eventually substituted, and it cost him his place in the side during arguably one of the toughest periods of his entire career. Still, he finished the campaign as a Bundesliga champion again – his third in a row and his fifth of his career. 

Then came another twist in rather obscure tale of Mats Hummels.  On 19 June 2019, Bayern Munich came to an agreement with Borussia Dortmund that would see the 30-year old re-join his former club, for a fee of €37 million. While many have left Dortmund for Bayern and on occasion, vice versa, it’s rare for one to leave a club to join another, only to go back again. Hummels was bucking a trend.

Dortmund were getting their great defensive stalwart back, and this time he was better than ever before. One obvious positive to Dortmund’s signing was that he required little time to adapt to his surroundings. He knows all about what makes Dortmund and their famous fans tick. 

The bonus? He came knowing their title rivals inside out. And although, Dortmund’s season has had its bumps on the road with manager Lucien Favre’s future under huge pressure, that boiling point has cooled and the excitement surrounding the team is returning.

It may still be Bayern in the driving seat, but what Hummels has brought Dortmund’s exciting, young, vibrant attacking set-up, is a little bit of experience, knowledge and talent which could prove invaluable.