Sven Bender will join twin brother Lars at Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund have confirmed.
Bender – whose switch is subject to a medical – joined Dortmund from 1860 Munich in 2009 and made 224 appearances for the club, winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal twice.
The 28-year-old has been capped seven times by Germany and will move to Leverkusen in a deal worth a reported €15million.
Fitness problems including torn ankle ligaments hindered Bender last season, restricting him to three Bundesliga starts, and he told Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc he felt the time was right for a fresh challenge.
A few days ago, I approached Aki Watzke and Michael Zorc with a personal request to take a new challenge after eight years at BVB, he told Dortmund s official website.
As a little boy, I always wanted to be on the pitch. Also due to injuries, I have unfortunately unfortunately not been able to be used by BVB regularly.
I am very grateful that Borussia Dortmund has respected my will, despite their unconditional desire to keep me. I feel that as a great appreciation.
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Uns bleibt nur eines zu sagen: Danke, Manni!
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB)
Watzke added: We would have liked to see Sven Bender still in our team. On the other hand, he is a player who, like a few others with great achievements, has given a lot of himself to BVB.
These merits naturally require us to listen more closely and respect his personal desire.
Leverkusen begin their domestic season with a trip to Karlsruhe in the DFB-Pokal before opening the Bundesliga campaign away to reigning champions Bayern Munich.
Bender s first reunion with Dortmund will come in December when Peter Bosz s side travel to the BayArena.
