Niklas Süle surprisingly announced the end of his professional career on Thursday. In a podcast, the former Bayern professional openly looked back on difficult phases of his career – and revealed a remarkable story from his time at FC Bayern
In the summer of 2017, Niklas Süle moved from TSG Hoffenheim to FC Bayern as one of Germany’s biggest defensive talents. The central defender quickly developed into a regular in Munich, winning numerous national titles and the Champions League in 2020
However, the 29-year-old came under increasing criticism towards the end of his time with the German record champions, with recurring injuries and discussions about his fitness level not only affecting Süle in Munich, but later also at Borussia Dortmund
In the „Spielmacher“ podcast, the former international now spoke unusually openly about these problems, saying that the issue of weight in particular had bothered him for years
Under Jupp Heynckes, the Bayern professionals had to weigh themselves once a week. For Süle, this apparently developed into a real struggle. „Jupp Heynckes was a huge teacher for me. I played, but he also addressed the issue of weight,“ explained the centre-back
Süle resorted to drastic measures at the time to achieve the desired values. „We had weigh-ins on Thursdays at Bayern. I didn’t eat anything all Wednesday, always fasted. And I still went to the sauna at home in the evening – wearing a rain jacket,“ said the former Bayern star
„I thought I was going to keel over“
The descriptions of his sauna procedure in particular show how extreme Süle’s approach was at the time. „The next day I was two and a half kilos lighter. That’s extreme,“ said the former international looking back
The physical effects were enormous: „The sauna was in the basement. After a day without eating and wearing a rain jacket in the sauna, I had to go up three floors to our bedroom,“ Süle reported
Afterwards, he was completely exhausted: „I ripped open the window, leaned out and breathed for ten minutes because I thought I was going to pass out,“ said the ex-Bayern professional
What was particularly curious was that, according to Süle, the weight reduction didn’t change anything at all in sporting terms. Nevertheless, Heynckes subsequently believed in a connection between fitness and performance. „Then I played at the weekend, we won and Heynckes said to me: ‚Yes, look, you’ve played much better now‘,“ Süle reported with a laugh
His honest answer to this was remarkable: „But I was exactly the same weight.“