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Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels has explained his return to Bayern Munich, saying it was "the hardest decision" of his career. On Tuesday, Dortmund confirmed Hummels, 27, will leave the club after eight-and-half-years and return to Bayern in the summer. His Dortmund contract was due to expire in 2017 and, while no details of the fee were announced, Dortmund are reported to have demanded €35 million for the Germany centre-back, which would represent the highest transfer fee for a Bundesliga player entering the final 12 months of a contract. Addressing his supporters on Facebook, Hummels explained his controversial move away from the Westfalenstadion. "Like you can all imagine, the last weeks have been nerve-wrecking for me because I had to made the hardest decision of my life until now," Hummels wrote. "In the end I came to the conclusion that I want to seek a new challenge, and even more so in my hometown where my family and many friends live." The North Rhine-Westphalia-born centre-back came through the ranks of the Bayern youth academy after his parents made the move down south when his dad was offered a job at the club in 1995. As a seven-year-old, Hummels joined Bayern that year and left the club for Dortmund in 2008, where he went on to win two Bundesliga titles and one DFB Pokal while he reached the 2013 Champions League final, which Dortmund lost to Bayern. "With a heavy heart I will now leave the club and the team with whom I have grown together and was able to celebrate big successes," Hummels wrote, adding his thanks to everyone who contributed to it, including "the extraordinary fans." On Saturday, Hummels will play his last home match at the Westfalenstadion when Dortmund host Cologne, and the following week he is set to lead his current club onto the pitch of Berlin's Olympiastadion in the DFB Pokal final against Bayern. After Dortmund announced in late April that Hummels told the club he wanted to return to Bayern, the club captain received a frosty reception at the Westfalenstadion during the 5-1 defeat of Wolfsburg. Fans displayed banners urging Hummels to pass on the captain's armband and leave the club as soon as possible. He was also whistled at by parts of the crowd, while others applauded when he was in possession. Hummels wrote: "The encouragement I got after our home match against Wolfsburg, be it in the stadium, at the training facilities or the supermarket touched me deeply. It speaks volumes for the unique BVB fans and I appreciate it." The Germany centre-back vowed to give it his all in the remaining training sessions and matches and added that he hoped to win the cup in his final match for Borussia.
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