Niklas Süle was born on 3 September 1995 in Frankfurt, Germany, and came through SV Darmstadt 98 before joining TSG Hoffenheim's academy in 2010. He made his Bundesliga debut in 2013 and became a regular starter, helping Hoffenheim finish fourth in the 2016-17 Bundesliga and earning a transfer to Bayern Munich for that summer.
At Bayern from 2017 he won five Bundesliga titles, two DFB-Pokals and the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League as part of the continental treble — though a serious ACL injury in October 2019 sidelined him for months before he returned to play in the European final win.
In summer 2022 he joined Borussia Dortmund on a free transfer and reached the 2023-24 Champions League final, lost to Real Madrid. He announced plans to retire at the end of the 2025-26 season, in which Dortmund won further trophies.
For Germany he earned 49 caps between 2016 and 2023, played at the 2018 and 2022 World Cups and Euro 2020, and won the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. He had earned an Olympic silver medal with Germany U23 in 2016 and was named to the UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI in 2017.
A 1.95 m centre-back built around physical dominance, aerial strength and recovery defending, Süle has been one of Germany's go-to senior defenders for the past decade — a role he carried at both Bayern and Dortmund.