Fresh from being named German Player of the Year, Jerome Boateng was honoured with an invitation by Angela Merkel to the annual open day at the federal chancellery in Berlin. The central theme of this year’s event was migration and integration.

“It’s obviously very special to be invited by the Chancellor, even more so in my home city. I’m very proud to be here,” the 27 year-old told FCBayern.tv.

As a key player for the record champions and the Germany national team, he shared a stage with the Chancellor to discuss topics such as integration, his involvement in the buntkicktgut street football project, as well as football in general and his own career.

Chancellor Merkel, herself a big football fan, apologised to Boateng for not attending the recent EURO in France. She said to his parents, who were in the audience: “You have a great son, you can be very proud.”

This weekend was the 18th annual government open day. With glorious sunshine across both days, tens of thousands of Berlin residents visited the chancellery, government departments and the Federal Intelligence Service to enjoy a varied educational and entertaining programme, and to get a look behind the scenes of the day-to-day life in the Bundestag.