German defensive rock Mats Hummels celebrated becoming a world champion and immediately ruled out cashing in on his success with a transfer.
The Borussia Dortmund centre-half helped Die Mannschaft keep a clean sheet in their 1-0 win over Argentina – their fourth in seven games in Brazil – before discovering he had been named in FIFA’s team of the tournament.
Hummels is coveted by many of Europe’s elite clubs, with Barcelona and Manchester United those most strongly linked this summer. But he dismissed out of hand the notion he could leave BVB, where he has made almost 200 appearances since being discarded by Bayern Munich.
Asked if he saw his future at the Westfalenstadion, Hummels was emphatic.
“Yes, there’s nothing to argue about me staying or not. There’s nothing to discuss,” he replied.
Hummels, along with many of his team-mates, is a graduate of Germany’s success at the 2009 European Championships, and with that core firmly in place, he sees no reason why they cannot remain at the top of world football for some time to come.
“We knew that this was a special team in 2009. If you see the names, there are something like 10 players in the World Cup who played in that tournament. Six or seven of them are from Germany, the rest from other countries.
“We have very good young players in Germany. Most of the team is about 25.
“I think we have six or seven of us who are born in 1988, so there’s a big chance to stay successful in these next years, but of course it’s just a chance, not a guarantee.
“Of course I know that we have a very good team, but to win titles is very difficult. Ten teams are capable of winning a title, so it’s very hard to make it happen once. I don’t think about 2016 or 2018 at the moment. It’s just enjoying this moment.”
Hummels added: “We saw videos of them, which showed they have eight players in defence.
“We knew it would be a tough game for us and that if they had fast breaks they would be dangerous – with Messi. He’s the best in the world so it was very hard for us in defence.”