Mats Hummels says Borussia Dortmund will take Shinji Kagawa with open arms

Mats Hummels indicates that Borussia Dortmund will welcome Shinji Kagawa if he re-joins them

Borussia Dortmund centre-half Mats Hummels seemed delighted at the prospect of having former teammate Shinji Kagawa rejoin the German club.

Speaking to German football magazine Kicker, the 25-year-old said: “We would take him with open arms, of course.

“Having an offensive line with [Marco] Reus, [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan and Kagawa would certainly be stylish.”

Shinji Kagawa, who arrived in Manchester United in 2012 from Die Borussen, has had a frustrating spell on the touchline with only 12 starts this season. It is understood that the beleaguered Premier League champions have found it challenging to fit the Japanese into the first team.

In May last year, Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp confessed saying: “Shinji Kagawa is one of the best players in the world and he now plays 20 minutes at Manchester United – on the left wing.

“My heart breaks. Really, I have tears in my eyes. Central midfield is Shinji’s best role. He’s an offensive midfielder with one of the best noses for goal I ever saw.

However Hummels also also gave due credit to current teammates saying: “But I would not say anything about the other great players we have playing for us. The attacking midfield is probably the best part of our team without Shinji.”

With Borussia Dormund setting their sights on signing several marquee players in the summer, Hummels felt unfazed by the possibility of new teammates earning a more handsome paycheck than him.

“I cannot imagine that it would be a big issue with us. In our team we are not only out for success,” mentioned the defender.

“At the end of the day, everyone is responsible for their own contracts. Nobody forced us to sign them. We want to play good football.

“If we had a star attacker who earned more money than us, no one would feel bad about it.”