Borussia Monchengladbach youngster Sinan Kurt remains hopeful Bayern Munich will reach an agreement to sign him before the close of the transfer window.
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Kurt, who turned 18 in July, is eager to make the move to Bavaria, but the Bundesliga champions have so far offered only 500,000 euros upfront for his signature and The Foals have been unwilling to sell.
The attacker, who was this week called into the Germany under-19 squad, has been likened to Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus and wants to be given the chance to make his mark at Bayern.
"I still believe in the transfer, or at least I have high hopes," Kurt told Bild on Thursday.
Kurt, who is now training with The Foals' under-23 side, fell out with his club in late May after he made public his desire to join Bayern.
Gladbach had offered the player a professional contract and intended to bring him into the first-team fold prior to the controversy, which led to his current employers hitting out at Bayern for attempting to poach the youth.
Kurt is under contract until 2016, but the player, his agent and Bayern have all claimed that the deal he signed two years ago is not legitimate. Such "Fordervertag" youth contracts have a maximum length of three years, and therefore Kurt's agreement should expire in 2015 rather than 2016.
As a result, agent Michael Decker is threatening to take Gladbach to court.
Kurt explained on Thursday: "I have three years on my contract, and the option for another year. I signed that when I was 16, but clubs are not allowed to tie you to them for longer than three years -- and, in any case, the contract was not filed to the DFL [German Football League] in time."
Sports law expert Georg Reiter told Sport Bild that he believes the courts would rule in the player's favour.
"A termination of the contract should be legitimate," Reiter said, in quotes reported by Der Spiegel.
However, Reiter -- who is the head of the player agent association DFVV -- added: "I doubt that an agent helps his client by behaving in such a manner."
Bild reported that Bayern have offered only 500,000 euros initially with a further two million euros potentially on offer should the player make 100 Bundesliga appearances and win 10 caps for Germany.
Bild, which labelled the offer "an absolute joke," said Gladbach would be willing to accept two million euros upfront.
Nonetheless, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said earlier this week that his club would simply sign Kurt as a free agent next summer if a deal cannot be agreed now.
"[Gladbach sporting director] Max Eberl wants more money than [Bayern representatives] Matthias Sammer and Michael Reschke have offered," he told Munchener Merkur. "That's normal. The player is under contract until 2015 -- that shouldn't go unnoticed in Gladbach -- but, should we fail to work things out, the player will simply join us on a free in 2015."
Kurt defended the way he has approached the transfer, telling Bild: "There was no manoeuvring on my side -- I was open with Gladbach in telling them that I want to seek my chance at FC Bayern. And it would be better for them to cash on me this summer, which they won't be able to do next year."