Hummels and Boateng best in the world – Hitzfeld

Former Bayern Munich head coach Ottmar Hitzfeld believes the Bundesliga giants now have the best central defence in the world after their acquisition of Mats Hummels from Borussia Dortmund.

Hummels is set to join Bayern at the end of the season once he plays his final game for Thomas Tuchel’s men, coincidentally against Munich in the DFB Pokal final on Saturday.

Hitzfeld also feels Dortmund will struggle to replace Hummels, dubbing him the ‘soul of the team’ at Signal Iduna Park.

Hummels began his career with Bayern before moving to Dortmund in 2009 where he has made over 200 appearances.

“Bayern did good transfers. If indeed this is possible, you only can strengthen a world class team like Bayern in their central defence, where Pep Guardiola had to improvise. Kimmich played there, Alaba, too.

“And it was clear, that when with Carlo Ancelotti a new coach is coming to Bayern, you engage key players. And then you engage a German international for the central defence. And with Hummels and Boateng, you have the best central defence in the world.

“You have to see that the fans of Dortmund love their club and that they don’t understand it if you go to another club, especially if it’s the rival Bayern München. It hurts them to lose the captain. Hummels is the soul of the team and one of the best players. So the disappointment was normal.

“That you get booed belongs to professional sports. It’s not nice, it’s difficult for the player who had great performances for the club for eight and a half years.

“But as a professional player you have to deal with that. I think the fans of Dortmund have let off steam and will support even Hummels in the final, because they want to win the title. Hummels could have a great goodbye by winning the title,” the Champions League winning coach with the Bavarian giants told.

“Mats Hummels leaves a big gap in the team of Borussia Dortmund. You can’t replace Hummels equivalently. Sure you can buy a very good defender, who has a lot of class. But you can’t make a new player the captain immediately. You can’t find a comparable player, as he is also the leader within the team.

“He’s a leader, a role model, he knows the team, he knows the surroundings, he can lead other players. He will leave a big gap in the team of Dortmund,” he added.