"James' future at Bayern depends on Kovac" – Hoeneß

James joined Bayern on a two-year loan in July 2017 and has since registered 10 goals and 14 assists in the Bundesliga. With his initial loan period now drawing to a close at the end of this season, Hoeneß shed on light on the situation during an interview with Sport1.

"It depends very much on whether Niko Kovac says: 'I want to keep him'," he said on Sunday. "If he says, 'he's a great player but won't play regularly under me', then we can't pay the transfer fee. It all depends on what we want. We have an option that we can choose to take up or not. If we choose to do so, he'll stay."

Watch:  A selection of James' Bundesliga goals and assists

On current form, an extended stay in Munich appears likely given that James has started all six of Bayern's games in all competitions in February, and grabbed a vital assist on Matchday 23 with a pinpoint corner for Javi Martinez to head in the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin.

"He's very good," said Kovac of the Colombia international recently. "He's got good awareness and positioning and what I personally like a lot is that he always puts himself at the team's service."

James himself has previously stated that he would like to remain at the club beyond the terms of his current deal. "I’d like to stay because I feel the love of the fans," he said in December last year. "That’s true here in Munich, and actually the entire Bayern family. I feel very good right now."