The Sun: Süle's amateur team has a unique penalty system; smoking and drinking during matches will result in fines.

German defender Niklas Süle is making his comeback after two months of retirement and will join SV Thiefenbach in the Baden-Württemberg regional league.

Niklas Süle won the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 2020 and made 49 appearances for the German national team. The 30-year-old center-back retired in May of this year due to a knee injury. He initially thought he had suffered his third cruciate ligament tear, but fortunately, the injury was not as serious as he had feared. However, he still decided to end his professional playing career. Last season, he only made 11 appearances for Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, plagued by injuries. Süle's history of cruciate ligament injuries began in 2014 while playing for Hoffenheim and recurred in 2019 while playing for Bayern Munich.

Now he has decided to put his football boots back on and join SV Thiefenbach, a German amateur league team. Süle will leave Signal Iduna Park, a stadium with a capacity of 81,365, for a club with an average attendance of only 60. He will officially join the team in August, and his arrival is expected to significantly boost the club's profile.

Club president Jürgen Bloch said: "It's unbelievable, amazing, simply indescribable. Look at us, we're a small, insignificant club, and now a world-class star is coming. It's absolutely crazy for us." Bloch admitted that he got goosebumps and his heart was "pounding" when announcing the news.

Süle needs to adapt to the club's penalty system, which is very different from his experience with professional teams. Drinking or smoking during a match will result in a fine of €15 (about £12.82), and each newspaper photo will incur a fine of €2 (about £1.71). Other offenses, such as breaking a beer bottle or urinating in the shower, may result in push-ups or making the whole team drink a case of beer.

Süle and SV Thiefenbach manager Jason Walzel are longtime friends.

In terms of career statistics, Süle made 117 appearances for Hoffenheim, scoring 8 goals and providing 4 assists; 171 appearances for Bayern Munich, scoring 7 goals and providing 5 assists; and 110 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, scoring 3 goals and providing 5 assists.