Mats Hummels confirms desire to join Bayern Munich

Borussia Dortmund captain Mats Hummels has asked to leave the club in order to join rivals Bayern Munich.

The news was announced in a club statement released on Thursday. The statement revealed that, while the World Cup winning defender wants to leave this summer, Bayern have yet to make an offer, and also noted that Hummels' contract - which runs until 2017 - does not have a buyout clause. Dortmund also said the transfer fee for the 27-year-old defender would have to be "extremely generous" in order for the club to part with him.

Reports in Germany earlier this week suggested Hummels had received a four-year contract offer from Bayern, whose chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed on Tuesday that the German champions were interested in signing Hummels from Dortmund.

The center-back started his career with Bayern, playing 42 times for their second team and a making a solitary appearance in the first team. He joined Dortmund on loan in 2008 before making the move permanent.

Hummels is about to complete his first season as captain of Dortmund. He took the armband from Sebastian Kehl after the midfielder retired at the end of last season.

As captain, he has helped restore Dortmund to something approaching their previous heights, bringing BVB back up to second in the Bundesliga after they finished seventh in 2014/15. He is one of five players at the club whose contract expires at the end of next season. Ilkay Gündogan, a target for Manchester City, is another.

If Hummels does go to Bayern, as he desires, he will be the third key Dortmund player in the last three seasons to move south to Bavaria. Mario Götze joined the champions in 2013 when Bayern activated his 36 million buyout clause and Robert Lewandowski soon followed once his contract expired in the summer of 2014.