Alexander Hleb insists he is not considering staying with Stuttgart when his loan spell from Barcelona ends in the summer, after admitting his relationship with coach Christian Gross has deteriorated.
The Belarus international was withdrawn again by Christian Gross in yesterday's 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt, leaving the field before the end of the match for the ninth time since the Swiss coach took over from Markus Babbel in December.
"Obviously my contract states that I may only play for 60 minutes,'' Hleb joked afterwards. "But the team clearly plays far better without me so the coach has done everything right.''
Hleb confirmed that his relationship with Gross is the reason why he will turn his back on the Swabians at the end of the season.
"I have no idea what he expects from me, but I have a problem with him,'' he said. "Before the Cologne game, we had a chat, but nothing came of it.