Niklas Süle announces retirement from football

Borussia Dortmund centre-back Niklas Süle is hanging up his boots at the end of the season, when his contract expires.

“I would like to announce that I will be ending my career this summer,” Süle announced on the “Spielmacher” podcast. sos-zagle.org.pl

The former Germany international had been considering bringing his career to an end for a while, with the knee injury he sustained against TSG Hoffenheim last month proving to be the final straw.

“What I felt when our team doctor did the drawer test in the dressing room in Hoffenheim (a test to detect a possible cruciate ligament tear – Ed.), looked at the physio and shook his head, and the physio did it too and didn’t feel any resistance either – I went into the shower and cried for ten minutes. In that moment, I really thought: ‘It’s torn’,” Süle said.

“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 one thousand per cent clear to me that it was over. 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.”

Süle, 30, joined Borussia Dortmund from Bayern Munich in 2022 and made 109 appearances for the Black and Yellows.

The 49-time Germany international made a total of 299 Bundesliga appearances for Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Slot, Assistant Search and Reijnen Question Dominate Media Matters Debate

Slot under scrutiny

On Media Matters for Anfield Index, Dave Davis and Lewis Steele picked through a Liverpool picture that sounded heavy with doubt. Davis framed the mood by saying, “They kind of linger, these defeats, don’t they?” and added that “there’s just not too much happiness to be found right now.”

Steele’s answer to the wider Slot debate was blunt. When discussing criticism of the manager and the tactical direction, he said one argument from a supporter “basically just completely undermines the role of the manager and the tactics”. His point was clear, the coach matters because, as he put it, managers “are the most important people at the football club”.

On Slot, Steele did not soften the concern. “If people want to defend Slot, then that’s completely fine,” he said, before adding that “some of the rationale behind it is just a bit, all over the place.” Davis then raised the line that there was “zero evidence” to believe next season would improve, and Steele agreed with the substance of that concern.

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Reijnen and coaching refresh

The most intriguing Assistant thread came when Davis raised Etienne Reijnen. “The name Etienne Reijnen won’t go away if I’m pronouncing it right,” Davis said, before noting that Slot “didn’t shut it down” and had said “one had left in our coaching team, so one might have to come in.”

Steele replied: “Yeah, it sounds like Etienne Reijnen, or whatever his name is, is going to be coming to Liverpool, or at least he’s going to be allowed to make the decision to come to Liverpool.” He added: “We know that he wasn’t able to back in 2024.”

There was caution too. “I don’t know much about him other than the conversations I have had about him,” Steele admitted. “People say he’s very good, but then I could get anyone to say that anyone’s very good.”

Coaching staff needs new faces

Steele linked the Reijnen and Assistant discussion to a wider need for movement inside the building. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Van Bronckhorst does end up at Feyenoord,” he said, before asking whether that “still leaves a hole in Liverpool’s coaching set-up, because Briggs left.”

His verdict was pointed: “Everyone in the building could benefit with a couple of new faces.” The reason, in Steele’s words, was that “they’re not learning from mistakes” and “everything’s gone a bit stale this season.” He added: “I think a coaching shake-up can help a team more than maybe people think.”

Summer answers needed

By the end, Steele returned to uncertainty. “There’s loads of questions to answer,” he told Davis. “We think that Slot’s going to be the manager, but we don’t really know. No one’s ever said that for definite.”

For Liverpool, the Reijnen question now sits within a broader Slot conversation. If an Assistant arrives, Steele’s view was simple enough: “That can only be a good thing, surely.”

Cricket Australia offers Pat Cummins mega contract until 2029 to fend off franchise cricket's $10 million lure originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Cricket Australia offers Pat Cummins a $4 million-per-year contract extension until 2029.
• Cummins and Travis Head both previously rejected a $10 million annual offer to play franchise cricket.
• Head, Marnus Labuschagne, and Cameron Green are also in line for new deals.

Cricket Australia moves to tie down Pat Cummins and key players with bumper new contracts

Australia Test captain Pat Cummins is reportedly being offered a three-year extension that would take the Australian captain through to 2029 and lift his annual earnings from Cricket Australia to around four million dollars. It is an increase of roughly one million dollars per year on his current deal.

According to The Age, over the full term, the arrangement would be worth approximately $12m. It will be a figure that sits alongside his commercial partnerships and whatever he earns from IPL.

Cummins came in at number fifteen on a recent list of Australia's highest-paid sportspeople, with total earnings last year estimated at between nine and $10m dollars.

Earlier this year, Cummins and vice-captain Travis Head were reportedly approached by an IPL franchise with an offer worth close to $10m annually each to walk away from international cricket and commit full-time to the franchise circuit. Both players had been part of Sunrisers Hyderabad's IPL setup, but despite the staggering figures involved, both turned it down as they remain committed to representing Australia.

Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green are also in line for bumper contracts

Test number three, Marnus Labuschagne, has also been put forward for a three-year contract, while Cameron Green, despite going through a difficult run of form, remains highly valued as a player capable of contributing across all formats.

Green's CA retainer was below $1.5 million last year, and his new deal is likely to better reflect his importance to the national setup.

One notable feature of Cummins' proposed contract is that it includes a higher proportion of guaranteed money, meaning his earnings will be less dependent on the number of matches he plays. This is a utility concession given that Cummins missed almost the entire Ashes summer this past season with a back injury, playing just one Test.

MORE: Modi's manifesto: Ex-IPL chief wants franchises to own Test teams

What did Cricket Australia say?

James Allsopp, who oversees cricket operations at Cricket Australia, did not mince words when asked about the reasoning behind these offers.

He confirmed that multi-format players who generate commercial value and drive television audiences are a clear priority, and that the board is fully aware of the market forces pulling at players like Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Head.

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“They’ve earned the right, they’ve been long-term performers for Australia across formats for a long period of time. There’s only so far you can take them under the current constraints. That’s definitely a priority at the moment," he said.

“It is a really tricky balancing act. One thing we do know is that the market pressure is coming at the players who drive the most commercial value. Your multi-format players like Pat, Josh [Hazlewood] and Trav, there’s a lot of demand for those players. So ensuring they remain committed to Australian cricket is a really big priority.”

He also flagged that specialist white-ball players face similar pressures and need to be looked after accordingly.

“The two priorities, in my mind, are making sure multi-format players that drive a lot of commercial value, and also performance value for the team, are well looked after, and we can compete with those market forces, and then also our specialist white-ball players,” he said.

“They’re in pretty high demand. There’s a world now, where they can jump on the franchise circuit and make a really good living away from Australian cricket, or even away from our BBL, and that’s not going to be in the best interests of Australian cricket.”

MORE: Cricket calendar 2026: Full schedule of major events and international matches in 2026

The Cricket News Opinion: Australian cricket is right to pay up

When franchise groups are offering figures that dwarf what national boards can provide, every contract negotiation becomes a retention battle. Cricket Australia deserves credit for recognising this early and acting accordingly.

Losing Cummins or Head to full-time franchise cricket would have consequences on the scorecard and hurt Australian cricket's standing in the Test game at exactly the moment when Test cricket needs its biggest names most.

Paying them properly is not generosity. It is a necessity.

To keep up to date with all the latest cricket news and share your opinion on the biggest topics visit ourFacebook, Instagram and X (Twitter) pages.

Don’t be surprised if you see Alex Bowman win a race, pull into the Victory Lane, and just simply walk out. While these drivers are not scared of driving at speeds exceeding 190 mph, they have been a little afraid of celebrating after the Connor Zilischincident last year. In fact, Bowman finds himself surprised, but with a daunting reality.

Alex Bowman reflects on his ‘clumsy’ situation

“With my lack of coordination, I’m surprised that I haven’t [fallen],” Alex Bowman said. Before the start of the season, insider Bob Pockrass questioned a handful of drivers about their close calls while celebrating in the Victory Lane. This was in light of the Zilisch incident.

While celebrating his Xfinity (now the O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series race win at Watkins Glen in 2025, Zilisch stepped on his car’s window. His window net slipped as he was getting down from the top, ending in a face-first fall. Zilisch’s collarbone was fractured, and he was forced to miss the Cup race the following day. But he managed to return less than two weeks later at Daytona, running the ever-important Xfinity race, considering his full-time participation. He managed to win that race, followed by a streak of Victory Lane visits.

Responding to Pockrass in the light of these events, Bowman found himself surprised that he hadn’t fallen until now, but it came with a dire reality, which he spoke out for himself: “It should have happened to me already. I guess I don’t win enough to get the odds going far enough to slip and fall, but I’m not very coordinated, so I’m surprised that I haven’t.”

It seems that the only reason Bowman has not taken a fall from the car in the Victory Lane is that he doesn’t often visit it. The last time he won a Cup race was back in 2024 at Chicago, and before that, it was in 2022. In simple words, Alex Bowman does not win enough.

While Hendrick Motorsportsis one of the best teams on the field and Bowman has been driving for them for the past decade, he has only won eight races. This also means that Bowman has never had a realistic chance of winning the championship; meanwhile, his teammates have clinched multiple championships within the same period. While he does happen to be decent, he is just not ‘Hendrick level.’

In fact, his lack of race wins had become so disappointing that at one point, Bowman admitted that he was losing the ‘fun’ in NASCAR.

“Cup racing is just so hard, and the pressure is so high, and everybody, like everything means so much here that it’s not fun, right? Like, it’s, you’re all in, and everything matters, and when you’re running poorly, as we did, it probably sucks a little bit of fun. Like, winning’s fun, obviously, rolled around 28th, not so fun,” he said.

Saying that Bowman is a ‘bad’ driver would be a bit too harsh. He has had his moments of shine, but when your teammates are contending for the championship every season while you’re stuck rooting for a top 10 finish, it does get a little hard. But it does seem that the team still has a lot of faith in him.

HMS continues to have faith in Bowman

As mentioned, Bowman is not a bad driver. His main issue is consistency. He was hit in the face this season after the COTA race, where he had to retire mid-race because of vertigo symptoms. The result? He ended up missing the next four rounds and returned to Bristol, but with a disappointing finish.

However, things have been turning around for the #48 driver. While he might not be Rick Hendrick’s top performer, he has been extremely decent in recent races, with back-to-back podium results.

“It’s one thing to do it at a superspeedway, it’s another thing to do it where you need grip, speed, execution, and good restarts; and Alex had all of that today,” Jeff Gordon said after the race at Texas.

It is very different to be finishing in third place at a superspeedway and to carry the same finish on a 1.5-mile track. Superspeedways are known for creating surprise winners because of their unpredictability. Hence, when Bowman clinched that result at Talladega, it wasn’t massive.

But his performance at the Texas Motor Speedway stood out. Not only did Alex Bowman finish in third place once again, but had carried that momentum throughout the race. He kept himself within the top spots for most of the race, making most use of the Chevy that happened to be the stronger car that weekend.

This certainly impressed the likes of Rick Hendrick and the rest of the #48 crew: “Nobody has faced bigger challenges than that 48 team,” Gordon added. “For them to be smiling again and building something, that’s really gratifying to see.”

It is perhaps a major positive for Gordon to be appreciating Alex Bowman and his team. Considering he was rumored to be let go from the team at the end of the 2025 season, Bowman is now showing massive signs of improvement. While it is tough to say if he will be a title contender just yet, he might have a chance to celebrate in the Victory Lane, understandably, with a lot more caution.

The post Hendrick Motorsports Star Laughs Off Victory Lane Danger Despite Admitting Clumsy Reality appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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On Wednesday, UFC champions Ilia Topuria, Justin Gaethje, Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane met President Trump in the Oval Office ahead of the UFC Freedom 250 event on June 14, celebrating the United States’ 250th anniversary. The fighters posed for photos and discussed the upcoming bouts, with Topuria defending his lightweight title against Gaethje and Pereira facing Gane for the interim heavyweight title.