Mats Hummels has recently made a few brief appearances for Borussia Dortmund. Now he’s fit again. But his competitors are doing well.

Mats Hummels made a lasting impression in just seven minutes. The Bundesliga derby between Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum (3-1) was still undecided until injury time when the central defender was substituted for Jadon Sancho. And the 35-year-old immediately showed tremendous presence, winning duels, clearing situations in the penalty area – and preventing worse with a spectacular sliding tackle against Bochum’s Philipp Hofmann.

There were reasons for Hummels only coming off the bench. The defensive leader had previously been struggling with an infection. Edin Terzic’s decision to slowly get Hummels used to the rigors of competition seemed logical. But the coach also left Hummels out in the subsequent Bundesliga game against 1. FC Heidenheim (0-0). He was only allowed on the pitch for two minutes against SC Freiburg (3-0). That was more surprising, given that Hummels was the club’s most stable outfield player in the first half of the season, when BVB’s performances fluctuated wildly.

Hummels’ recent lack of involvement had nothing to do with his physical condition. “Mats is extremely close, otherwise we wouldn’t have brought him on twice already,” said Terzic on Thursday ahead of the Bundesliga away game at VfL Wolfsburg (Saturday, 3:30 p.m./Sky). ”Mats is doing very well in training, he’s back to his old self and has trained well in the last few days and deserved to play from the start in the last game.”

According to Terzic, the fact that it didn’t come to that had to do with Nico Schlotterbeck (24) and Niklas Süle (28), the other two central defenders. “We were very satisfied with their performances. We allowed very few scoring chances against the players and only conceded one goal. Therefore, we saw no reason to change the formation,” explained Terzic, who promised his experienced player more game time. “We know, of course, that Mats, with his quality, his experience, his calmness, can continue to give this team a great deal.”

That is why Dortmund is also trying to persuade Hummels to extend his expiring contract again. The national player announced last year that he would take his time with the decision until spring, as he did last year.