Mats Hummels talks through return to Germany

Mats Hummels has had quite a distinguished career with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but when he was unceremoniously dropped from the German national team, the defender shocked and disappointed.

“It hurt,” said Hummels (as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia). “None of the three of us (Thomas Müller, Jerome Boateng) made a secret of that. One of my goals was to work my way back here. It’s always an honor for me to play for Germany.”

Hummels achieved that goal and definitely was happy to be back wearing the kit of his country.

“It was nice. I saw a lot of familiar faces again. I was a bit more nervous than usual when I arrived. We’re already training intensively and have set certain training priorities, for example, set pieces. The first few days were good,” Hummels said.

Despite the nature of how — and when — he was dropped from the squad, Hummels said he never harbored any ill-will toward Germany manager Joachim Löw.

“There was never a problem between us,” Hummels said. “During the last six months there have been messages and phone calls. He said that I can give lot to the team.”