Hummels : I am staying at Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund central defender Mats Hummels has confirmed that he will stay at the German club, but said that he was honoured to see the interest shown by Manchester United.

Hummels has been considered as one of the best center-backs in the world, and has been heavily linked with a move away from Germany after the departure of former manager Jurgen Klopp. Though he has pledged his loyalty to the club, Hummels failed to commit his future at Dortmund on a long-term basis, as he clearly stated that he won’t leave the club this year.

“There have always been rumours about almost every one of our players, but I decided not to make the move this year,” Hummels told reporters in Singapore.

Manchester United have been very much interested in signing the central defender, and according to himself, Hummels has been ‘honoured’ to be linked to the Red Devils.

“Of course when the big clubs are interested, and Manchester United is one of the biggest clubs in the world, it’s an honour. But I decided I wanted to stay here.”

“I’ve been at Dortmund for a very long time, I haven’t set a limit. It’s hard to say what future brings, but I’m still here after seven years. I thought I might go back to Bayern Munich from where I came after a year or two. But here I am still part of the club and committed to taking it to greater heights.”

Initially reports suggested that the 26-year-old defender was one of the primary transfer targets for United manager Louis van Gaal. But with Hummels vowing to stay at Dortmund, LVG might have to turn his attention back to Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos, as he looks to sign an experienced center-back.

Dortmund finished a disappointing seventh in the Bundesliga last season, being at the bottom of the table in January. And Hummels was quick to say that Dortmund cannot afford a similar kind of a start in the upcoming season.

“We don’t want anywhere near a terrible half year in the new season like we had in 2014-15,” he added. “We started badly in the league last season and then developed confidence problems. It took us a lot of time to regain self-belief. Also, we were unlucky that some key players — such as Ilkay — missed out due to injury.”

Hummels has been a key player for Dortmund since his arrival on a permanent basis from Bayern Munich in 2009 after an initial loan spell. He has won two league titles, in 2011 and 2012, and one DFB-Pokal with Dortmund.

Having lost key players like Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze to rivals Bayern Munich, Dortmund will be happy to see Hummels staying at the club, and will hope to keep their prized asset in the future.