Borussia Dortmund forward Marco Reus has still not decided where his future lies, and will only do so once he has recovered from the ankle injury which has ruled him out until January.
Reus, 25, is under contract at Dortmund until 2017, but could trigger a 25 million-euro release clause in his contract next summer. However, Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke has rubbished Spanish media reports that there is an agreement in place with Real Madrid as "nonsense."
Marca reported that Dortmund and Real have already reached an agreement over Reus, with the BVB board promising to inform Los Blancos whenever another club enters the race for his signature.
"It's just nonsense that they have an option. It's Marco's decision where he'll be going. Is there anything we could do when he triggers his clause?" Watzke told Bild.
For his part, Reus told the paper: "I put all my energy into the rehabilitation training now, everything else has to wait."
On Tuesday, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti praised Reus as "the best Germany player apart from [Toni] Kroos and [Sami] Khedira."
But it was not the first time that the Los Blancos coach let slip that the Dortmund star could end up at the Bernabeu next summer.
However, Dortmund have not entirely given up on convincing their star player to stay at the Westfalenstadion, although another year at the club has become more unlikely following their worrying decline in Bundesliga.
The club's slump to the bottom of the table could make the decision easier for Reus as, despite being hailed as one of the best of his generation, he has yet to win a major title after missing Germany's World Cup triumph through injury.
Reus has not only been linked to Real Madrid, but also both Manchester clubs as well as Barcelona, and Dortmund's domestic rivals Bayern Munich, who appeared to be leading the race earlier on this year.
"I can only say that he's an excellent footballer, who would have been a World champion in the summer if it had not been for his injury. A player like Marco Reus is a reinforcement for every club in the world," Bayern captain Philipp Lahm told Bild, but refused to comment on the chances of them wearing the same colours next season.