Borussia Dortmund have rejected rumours linking wantaway midfielder İlkay Gündoğan with Bayern Munich in a swap deal with former Dortmund favourite Mario Götze.
Gündoğan has been heavily linked with a move to Louis van Gaal's Manchester United in recent months, but it had been suggested that Götze could be in line for a dramatic return to the club he left in 2013 with Gündoğan going the other way.
But Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc has now rejected talk of any such deal, claiming that he could not imagine Götze - who has been relentlessly booed and jeered by Dortmund fans since his controversial move - returning to the club.
"A player-exchange deal involving Gündoğan and Götze? Mario is a Bayern player. I can really not imagine him returning to Dortmund", Zorc told Sky90.
Dortmund have spend much of the current season battling at the opposite end of the table to already-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayern, and Zorc admits that they would rather sell the midfielder abroad with his contract running out in the summer of 2016.
"It would not result in another war if Bayern try to sign Gündoğan.
"Of course, we would prefer it if he did not join a Bundesliga rival, even if Bayern have not really been our rivals in a sporting sense this campaign.
"There are no offers (for Gündoğan) for now, though," he added.