# Sports

Gracias Xabi: Midfielder to retire after current season

The Spanish midfielder has emerged as among the finest of his generation and will be sorely missed.

IANS | Berlin | January 19, 2017 3:56 am

Gracias Xabi: Midfielder to retire after current season

Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso will conclude his football career by the end of this season when his contract expires with German football champions Bayern Munich.

At the end of Bayern's recent winter camp, Alonso, 35, told the club's management that he did not want to renew his contract, German magazine Sport Bild said on Wednesday, reports Efe.

Bayern was planning to extend Alonso's contract for another year, just like Frenchman Franck Ribery and Dutch Arjen Robben.

The magazine explained that the Bavarian club took the former Spanish international's wishes into consideration, while it left the door open for his renewal in case he changed his mind.

If Xabi insists on leaving Bayern he will end a career that has extended over the past 18 years, in which he won several titles, including two Champions League trophies, with Liverpool and Real Madrid, as well as the European Championship and the World Cup with Spain.