Bundesliga
Matthias Ginter committed to Borussia Mönchengladbach
Borussia Mönchengladbach and Germany defender Matthias Ginter insists he is going nowhere this summer, amid reported interest from a host of clubs across Europe.
With UEFA Champions League football to look forward to, with the Foals finishing fourth last season, the 26-year-old FIFA World Cup winner has announced he wants to belong to Marco Rose's herd next term.
"I'm definitely staying in Gladbach," Ginter told Kicker magazine. "Of course I heard of the enquiries and was flattered by this attention, but I've said often enough how good things are for me in Gladbach."
Watch: Ginter reflects on Gladbach's outstanding start to 2019/20
The Freiburg-born defender played a major part in Gladbach booking their return to the Champions League next season, delivering consistently reliable performances at the heart of their defence. The fact only champions Bayern Munich and third-placed RB Leipzig conceded fewer than Gladbach's 40 goals last season also vouches for the resolve Ginter gives to a team he believes can get even stronger.
"This team has huge potential," Ginter continued. "And the coach gives us a great deal of added value. With the amazing fans and surroundings here, this club is currently in the process of building something. I share these big ambitions and I also have a contract here."
Ginter's commitment comes as a boost to a club who led the Bundesliga for eight matchdays last term, and are busy plotting a more sustained challenge for the title next term.
"This is very important because we have a great deal of potential with the current set-up," said Gladbach's general manager Max Eberl. "If we can stick together like this for the next two or three years, then we really could make something happen here.
"We can only achieve the best possible success if we stick together and don't have to remedy any losses."
Ginter, who won the World Cup with Germany in 2014 and has been capped 29 times by his country, brings to the table the experience of 229 Bundesliga appearances, in which he has scored 13 goals.
As Gladbach wait to discover on 2 October who they will meet in the Champions League group stage, they know they can count on a player who has already made 13 appearances in the competition during his Borussia Dortmund days, including two outings in the quarter-finals in 2017.