Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm announces plans to retire at end of season
Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm has announced he will retire from football at the end of the season.
The 33-year-old has a year left on his contract with the defending Bundesliga champions but will walk away early - also saying he has rejected an offer from the club to become a sporting director.
"I have told the club I will stop playing at the end of the season," Lahm said in comments reported by Kicker.
"My leadership style is in the way I give my best every day, in every training session and every match. I believe I can do this until the end of the season but not beyond then. It is clear to me I will stop."
"I've been considering it for more than the past year, that you have to keep testing yourself, you have to keep asking yourself 'how is it', day by day, week by week on the training pitch, what's the feeling you have," Lahm said. "I'm certain I can deliver my top level - also as a leader for the young players - to the end of the season. It's just a few more months, but no more."
Lahm announced the news after Bayern's 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal, having made his 500th Bayern appearance against Schalke on Saturday.
Asked about the possibility of staying at the club in a different role, Lahm confirmed he had discussed taking up the sporting director position vacated by Matthias Sammer.
"There were discussions, but at the end of those discussions I decided myself that this is not the best time for me," Lahm said.
He had been the preferred candidate of Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Uli Hoeness.
Hoeness said the club had not been in contact with any other candidates for the position of sporting director and held out the possibility that Lahm could yet be convinced to take the role.
"We have all the time in the world. We'll talk to him in the next few days," Hoeness said.
A World Cup winner with Germany, Lahm is aiming to win a record eighth Bundesliga title this season.
The Munich-born player has spent his entire club career with Bayern, bar a two-year loan spell at Stuttgart between 2003 and 2005.
He has won seven Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, the Champions League and the Club World Cup with Bayern.
He captained Germany to World Cup glory in 2014 before announcing his retirement from international football.
