Borussia Dortmund legend Marcel Schmelzer has reportedly left his role with the under-23 side as the former player ends his 21-year-long association with the club.
He was part of the coaching team led by Daniel Rios but has now quit to spend more time with family. In an interview with German daily newspaper Ruhr Nachrichten, the 38-year-old revealed:
""I personally have planned this for a long time. Even those responsible knew that I was taking a break after the end of the contract to take care of the family. That's exactly my priority now.""said Schmelzer
Schmelzer first joined Borussia Dortmund in 2005 as a 17-year-old teenager and spent the next two years shuttling between the youth academy and their reserve team.
In 2008, he finally broke into the senior team under Jurgen Klopp and spent the rest of his club career there until his retirement in 2022.
During that 18-year spell, Schmelzer 367 appearances in all competitions, including 258 in the Bundesliga as he won back-to-back league titles in 2011 and 2012 while also picking up three DFB Pokal titles.
However, serious knee injury concerns in his last two years at the club prompted him to announce his retirement, at the age of 34.
The following year, he joined Marco Lehmann at Borussia Dortmund U17 for the 2023-24 season. Then on 3 May 2024, it was announced that Schmelzer would join Jan Zimmermann's coaching staff at Borussia Dortmund II for the 2024-25 season.
Although the former German international hasn't announced yet whether he'd return to coaching, Schmelzer is currently working to obtain his UEFA A coaching license.
Dortmund are reportedly gearing up for his farewell with some gifts for the star ahead of their final home game of the season with U23s against FC Koln. Their campaign ends away from home against SC Wiedenbruck the following week.
Borussia Dortmund II are currently in fourth place of the fourth-tier competition Regionalliga West, tied on points with Schalke II and Borussia Monchengladbach II.
Samuele Inacio, who recently bagged his first senior goal for the BVB, along with Filippo Mane and Luca Reggiani have played multiple times with the side this season too.
Borussia Dortmund's senior team gears up for its last official game of the season against Werder Bremen on Saturday as the BVB pull the curtains on a good league run in Niko Kovac's first full season in-charge with the runners-up place secured, making it their highest finish in the Bundesliga since 2023.
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