UPDATE: Lahm has since confirmed that he will retire at season’s end.
Philipp Lahm will call full-time on his professional footballing career at the end of the 2016-17 season, according to a report by German newspaper Sport Bild.
[ MORE: Bobby Wood is closing in on back-to-back 15-goal seasons ]
The Bayern Munich and German national team legend almost certainly leave the game the same way he’s spent much of his 15-year career: a champion, as Bayern currently sit four points clear of RB Leipzig in their bid for a fifth straight Bundesliga title. There’s also the 2014 World Cup won in Brazil (after which he retired from the international game), the UEFA Champions League won in 2013, the other three Bundesliga titles which came prior to this half-decade of dominance, six DFB-Pokal (German Cup) triumphs, and a what’s what list of individual awards from the last decade.
Really, the only major club or international competition Lahm never won was the European Championship, for which he has a runners-up medal from the 2008 tournament.
[ MORE: PL Power Rankings — It’s all a mess behind Chelsea ]
At the age of 33, Lahm goes out on his own terms, as one of Germany’s all-time greats.
BREAKING: #Lahm will retire at the end of the season. He declines job as sporting director. #Bayern @sportbild exclusive https://t.co/2c4PMcSnlc
— SPORT BILD (@SPORTBILD) February 7, 2017
There are additional numbers that tell the story of Lahm’s legendary career, they’re simply staggering: 500 games played for Bayern; 113 appearances for Germany; 21 major trophies won (club and country); and, perhaps the unlikeliest of them all: zero red cards.
