Moments earlier, emotions got the better of him. Niklas Süle abruptly ended his final interview and carried a McDonald's bag inside

First things first. Before Süle presented his greasy gift, he stressed his principles and pride. "At every club I've been to, I've made it clear who I am. I told Dortmund, 'If you're looking for a captain who shouts his head off – that's not me.' I spent an hour alone with Marco Rose, who motivated me enormously. I was burning like a torch. He understood me. He knows what I'm like. In the end I served as second or third captain and still wore the armband 15 times, even though I'd said I wasn't cut out for it. I thought, 'Maybe they're doing this because they say, "Hey, he earns the money, so he has to lead the way."' Why did I thrive at Bayern for so long? Because there were other players who took on that role. The whole team knew that,' he explained, adding, 'I don't say a word during the game.'

"I never forced anyone and said, 'Pay me this and sign me!' I always played a different game. Anyone who says otherwise is lying." His agent, Volker Struth, had warned him about his candour. "Sometimes you have to watch that you're not too honest," he noted. "I've met thousands of players in my career and I don't think anyone would stand up and say, 'That Süle, he's a right arsehole.' I can't imagine that, because the person has always been much more important to me than playing 30 more games. That's important to me."

He admitted, "I certainly didn't get everything right," yet added, "I'm prouder of that than of five league titles or five Champions League trophies. I've always stayed true to myself; sport never went to my head. My family and closest friends are very proud of that, and I know it," he said, his eyes filling with tears. "It almost makes me emotional." Moments later, the McDonald's bag made its grand entrance, prompting Hellmann to burst into laughter.

"I don't know what time it is, but I'm starving," Süle declared with a broad grin before stepping out of the room. "If this is my last interview as a professional footballer, I figured I'd order twelve cheeseburgers. There are four of us, so if everyone takes three, the maths works out—although I'll probably polish off six myself. That was just a little joke, in case anyone fancied one." Nevertheless, he took a bite out of a cheeseburger shortly afterwards and explained, with his mouth full, that he'd thought of the gag during the car journey. Hellmann helped himself too.

A few minutes earlier, Süle had opened up about the pressure he felt over his weight during his career. At FC Bayern Munich, he once fasted the day before a weigh-in and sweated in a rain jacket inside a sauna to shed pounds quickly.