Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Christoph Kramer has rejected reports that he will return to Bayern Leverkusen next summer as a misinterpretation, and did not rule out talking to other clubs.
Kramer, 23, is about to enter the final quarter of his two-year-loan at Gladbach, the club where he became a Bundesliga regular and also a full Germany international.
His future has been subject of much speculation in recent months and he has been strongly linked to Napoli, as well as a rumoured target for Real Madrid and Arsenal.
Following Germany's World Cup triumph in Brazil, when he was substituted with concussion early on in the final victory over Argentina and later claimed that he could not remember the match, Kramer caused a stir in an interview with Der Spiegel.
He compared the football business to "modern human trafficking," and insisted that it should be solely down to the player to decide who he plays for.
"For me, a contract can say whatever it wants," he said, suggesting a player could force a move, but he later apologised by saying that he is "very grateful for his life."
On Wednesday, a report in Sport Bild claimed that Kramer has made up his mind on his future, and that he would return to Leverkusen.
"Even if I still feel great here at Monchengladbach, I have a contract at Leverkusen and will return in the summer, as things stand now," he was quoted as saying by the paper. "And not because I have to, but because their project totally convinced me."
Kramer argued that he can still move abroad in the future, but right now he prefers to stay in Germany because "the Bundesliga is the measure of all things."
Sport Bild reported that it is only a matter of time until Kramer signs a new contract at Leverkusen, prolonging his stay from 2017 to 2019 or 2020, and also putting him on an annual salary of around two million euros.
But speaking to kicker on Wednesday, Kramer said that "nothing has been decided yet," and that he was only relating the status quo to Sport Bild. "I am under contract at Leverkusen from 2015. They have all written about it," he added.