United States men's national team player and Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones has stated that he is relaxed on his future and is not expecting to make a quick decision.
The 32-year-old United States international is out of contract in the summer and has admitted his future will stay unresolved until after the World Cup, which could leave him as a free agent. The defensive midfielder has been with the Bundesliga outfit since 2007, although he did have a spell at Blackburn Rovers which lasted for six months during the 2010-11 season.
Jones told BILD: "I am very relaxed on my future. I am on a Schalke deal that will run out at the end of the season. I will not decide on my future ahead of the FIFA World Cup tournament."
When commenting on his place with the national team, he said: "I will feature in full during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. I have agreed that in every respect with (USA coach) Jurgen Kinsmann."
Jones made his debut for the USA in October 2010, after announcing his intention to switch allegiance from Germany back in June 2009. Injuries and paperwork stalled the process. But the move had actually been in the works much longer.
Jones says he first tried to switch to the USA when he was 21, back in 2002. He’d played a youth tournament in Florida with Frankfurt and since he couldn’t afford the plane ticket to go back and see the US properly, to discover his roots, he figured playing for the national team program might be a good way to do it. “I wanted to get to know America because I hadn’t been in touch with it,” he says. “But people told me it was not possible.”
FOX Soccer's Leander Schaerlaeckens contributed to this report.
