He spent two seasons with Leipzig, helping the club earn promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2016 and qualification to the UEFA Champions League the following year.

Two years later, he featured at the 2016 Summer Olympics where Germany earned a silver medal, losing out to hosts Brazil in the final.

[4][5] While spending most of the 2013–2014 season playing for the reserves in the fourth-tier Regionalliga Nord, he made his first-team debut for the club on 3 November 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute for Clemens Fritz in a 3–2 Bundesliga victory over Hannover 96.

[11] A late flurry of four goals and four assists in nine games from Selke helped Bremen to a tenth-placed finish in the league, thus securing their status in the Bundesliga for another season.

[14] With Selke having been courted throughout the season by a host of European clubs, including Real Madrid, his decision to drop down a division was seen as being financially motivated.

[15] Following the announcement of his departure, Selke was jeered by parts of the Werder Bremen fan base during the remaining matches of the season.

Selke made his debut for RB Leipzig on 25 July 2015 against FSV Frankfurt and scored his first goal for the club the following week, netting in a 2–2 draw with Greuther Fürth.

[19] During the post match celebrations, Leipzig manager Ralf Rangnick pulled his hamstring after being chased by Selke with a glass of beer.

[22] On matchday 32, he netted a brace in a 4–1 win over Hertha BSC which saw the Leipzig qualify for the Champions League for the first time in the club's history.

[23][25] The following month, Selke suffered a metatarsal injury in training which was later diagnosed to be a bone-marrow edema, and was ruled out for a number of weeks.

[30] The following month, Selke came up against RB Leipzig for the first time since joining Hertha BSC and prior to the match he vowed to celebrate if he scored against his former club.

[34] Following a successful recovery, he featured regularly under manager Pal Dardai and by February 2019, despite having only scored four goals, had recorded eight assists in the league; more than he had in each of his previous campaigns combined.

[39] Ahead of the 2021–22 season, Selke returned to Hertha BSC, where he played under coaches Pál Dárdai, Tayfun Korkut and Felix Magath.

[48] The following year, he was included in Germany's 23-man squad for the 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Poland where they went on to be crowned champions after beating Spain 1–0 in the final.