Bayern’s Lahm drops retirement hint

Philipp Lahm, Germany’s World Cup-winning captain and Bayern Munich’s current skipper, hinted that he may retire from football at the end of the season.

Lahm stepped down from international football after leading Germany to the 2014 World Cup and has a Bayern contract until 2018, but admitted he might hang up his boots in June 2017.

“I wouldn’t rule it out,” Lahm, who turns 33 on Friday, told magazine Sport Bild.

“I said nine months ago that it could happen and nothing has changed since then.

“I want to be able to measure myself at the very highest level and to recognise when it is the right time to end my career.”

Lahm has won every possible domestic major title with Bayern, whom he first joined in 1995 as a 12-year-old.

He lifted the 2013 Champions League trophy and has also claimed seven Bundesliga titles, six German Cups and both the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup in 2013.

Bundesliga leaders Bayern are on course to win a fifth straight German league title this season, but Lahm says any further silverware will not influence his decision.

“I definitely won’t make a decision based on any titles, more like how my body feels and then decide how to continue,” he added.

In the past, Lahm has said he wants to stay in football when his career is over and Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has said they will find a role for him when he finally retires.