Franck Ribery is not guaranteed to be offered a new contract by Bayern Munich, according to the club's executive board chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.
Ribery's current contract expires next summer and the France winger would be free to talk to other clubs in the New Year.
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Asked whether the club will extend the 34-year-old's contract, Rummenigge told Sky: "I cannot answer this question seriously today.
"He is a player who has done a lot for the club, who has many sympathies in the club and in our crowd.
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"But, in the end, football is a competitive sport and we have to ask ourselves if Franck Ribery is the future or if we need a new player."
Bayern bought Ribery in the summer of 2007 for £22.5 million from Marseille, and he has scored 112 goals and assisted 174 more in 362 matches for the club in all competitions.
Due to a ligament injury in his left knee, Ribery hasn’t played since the beginning of October, but he is expected to be fit again during the Bundesliga winter break in January.
There has even been speculation that the injury could bring about the end of his career, but Ribery has denied the rumours.
Bayern team-mate Arjen Robben, who has been at the club since 2009, is in a similar situation to Ribery as his contract is expiring at the end of the season too.
"Nobody spoke with me about an extension of my contract till now," Robben told Sky after the first Champions League game against Celtic a fortnight ago.
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