Hector pledges future to struggling Cologne
Jonas Hector has spurned the chance to activate an opt-out clause at Cologne and instead extended his contract with the Bundesliga's bottom club.
The Germany international was rumoured to be a transfer target for Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but has demonstrated his commitment to Cologne despite their precarious position in the table.
Having joined the club in 2010, Hector has renewed for a further two years, meaning he is set to stay put until the end of the 2022-23 season.
"Cologne allowed me to take the path from the regional league to the German national team," Hector told the club's website.
"I am very connected and thankful to this club and feel very comfortable living in Cologne. It would have been no problem for me to switch to another club after this season, but it would not have felt right.
"We had many talks in the past few weeks and I had enough time to think about it.
"The decision for me is clear: I belong to FC and I want to go into the new season with this team and with these fans."
New contract – Jonas Hector will remain a player of #effzeh: https://t.co/75TGSisT1N
— 1. FC Cologne (@fckoeln_en) April 23, 2018
Cologne – who last week announced the appointment of Markus Anfang as their head coach for the 2018-19 season – look certain to slip out of the top tier, with Saturday's 2-2 draw with Schalke leaving them eight points adrift of safety with just three games to play.
Despite his team's struggles, Hector – who played every minute of Germany's campaign at Euro 2016 – is expected to be part of Joachim Low's squad for the World Cup in Russia.