May 7 (Reuters) - Borussia ⁠Dortmund defender Niklas Suele will retire at ⁠the end of the season, the 30-year-old ‌said on Thursday.

Suele, capped 49 times by Germany, began his career at TSG Hoffenheim before joining Bayern Munich in ​2017, where he won five league ⁠titles as well ⁠as the Champions League in 2020. He moved to ⁠Dortmund ‌in 2022.

In an appearance on the Spielmacher podcast on Thursday, Suele said he ⁠made the decision to hang up his ​boots after ‌injuring his knee during a match against ⁠Hoffenheim last ​month.

“When I went for an MRI the next day and received the good news (that it wasn’t ⁠a cruciate ligament tear after all), ​it was 1,000% clear to me that it was over," Suele said.

"I couldn’t imagine anything worse than ⁠looking forward to life – being independent, going on holiday, spending time with my children – only to then have to come to terms with ​my third cruciate ligament tear."

Dortmund, ⁠second in the standings, host Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday ​before finishing their league ‌campaign with a trip to ​Werder Bremen on May 16.

(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)