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With so much surrounding his head, Toni Kroos, to his credit, did no stick his head in the ground like an ostrich.
The Bayern Munich addressed his fans with an extended Facebook message on his fan page on Wednesday, the first in depth acknowledgement of the speculation around his situation.
Hey people, in the last few days a lot was written and above all speculated over my athletic future. But you should not believe everything that is in a particular newspaper. Fact is: I am very happy to play at Bayern and my athletic situation as a starter is very good. But fact is also that we have not come together on a new contract. But that it still expires in 2015 is not a big problem for us and we will see what the future brings. My full concentration is on the athletics and that we, if possible just as well, close the season successful as last year! Toni
Linked with moves to England, including newcomers Manchester City according to the Daily Mail, Kroos did not play in Sunday's match against Eintracht Frankfurt, the first match he did not appear the entire season. That followed the midweek clash against VfB Stuttgart in which he showed his frustrations after Guardiola substituted Claudio Pizarro for him in the 59th minute.
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge mentioned when addressing the Arjen Robben and Rafinha extensions that the club tends to begin the extension process with its players a year and a half before their contract expires. Kroos is in that timeline, which is why the topic is so large at the moment.
FC Bayern do not have a history of selling players in lew of contract expiration. Luiz Gustavo was the last midfielder to leave for a big fee, and Owen Hargreaves before him, although both left for reasons outside of contract disputes. Other midfielders such as Michael Ballack and Mark van Bommel were out of contract, whether expired or terminated, when they packed their lockers and moved to stranger tides.
With a year and a half, there is still plenty of time to extend his contract, which means Kroos, as he wrote, can focus on club and country success now and contracts later.
