Marco Reus to leave Borussia Dortmund at the end of 2023-24 season

Marco Reus, a 34-year-old veteran of Borussia Dortmund, will part ways with the club at the end of the 2023-24 campaign after playing 12 seasons at Westfalenstadion, the club announced on Friday.

"I am incredibly grateful and proud for this special time at my club Borussia Dortmund," Reus said in a statement. "I spent more than half of my life in this club and enjoyed every day, although there were of course difficult moments."

As one of the most successful players from Dortmund's BVB Evonik Football Academy, Reus began his professional career at Rot Weiss Ahlen and drew attention from powerhouses after scoring 18 goals and 12 assists for Borussia Monchengladbach during the 2011-12 season. Dortmund paid 17.1 million euros (about $18.4 million) to bring Reus home in July 2012.

By Friday, Reus had 168 goals and 128 assists in 424 appearances for Dortmund. Though he was hit by multiple major injuries and his Dortmund career happened to coincide with Bayern Munich's 11-title winning streak in the German top league, he still helped Dortmund win two DFB-Pokals and three DFL-Supercup titles.

"Marco Reus is one of the greatest players at this club," Dortmund's chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, said. "He was born in Dortmund, played in our youth team for almost ten years, was with the professionals for twelve years and was the captain of our team for a long time."

"His connection to Borussia Dortmund is extraordinary. We wish Marco all the best for his future. We very much hope that he will return to BVB after his professional career, because there are plenty of exciting tasks waiting for him here in Dortmund," Watzke added.

Reus helped Dortmund reach the UEFA Champions League final in the 2012-13 season, but they lost to Bayern 2-1 in that game. The club now has the chance to go back to the top stage after defeating Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals this season.

"I already know that it will be difficult for me to say goodbye at the end of the season," Reus said. "And yet I'm glad that there's clarity now and we can concentrate fully on the important final games that are still outstanding. We have a big goal in mind and we all want to achieve it together. For this we need each and every one of our incredible fans, whom I would like to expressly thank for their incredible support over the years."

The second-leg game against PSG will take place at the Parc des Princes in Paris, France, on May 7.