together with modric, he definitely one of the best cm's EVER. he's up there with the likes of zidane, xavi, iniesta. He's the best german player ever together with beckenbauer.
Retiring at age of 34 means his prime wasn't good enough, just look at Zlatan or Ronaldo, look at Modrić still playing, Pepe recently retired too at what age and what level, that just says he wasn't even close to the best of the world, but he was one of the greatest in his time
