Schalke outcast Kevin-Prince Boateng has paved the way for a return to AC Milan or city rivals Inter as he said he would be open to a move back to the Italian city.
Boateng was suspended indefinitely by the Bundesliga club earlier this month in the wake of a defeat to Cologne which jeopardised their hopes of qualifying for the Europa League.
They have since secured their place in Europe next season, but there is no going back for Boateng, who is instead looking for a return to Italy in the summer.
"I'm just focusing on my holidays now and then we'll see what happens," he told Italia 1 television, in quotes reported by Corriere dello Sport. "I love living in Milan and my girlfriend lives there, and you can never say never in football."
Boateng won Serie A with Milan in 2010-11 and was part of the side that finished second to Juventus the following season, but the Rossoneri have endured a decline more recently.
He said: "The Milan I played in was an incredible group. It was a team with phenomenal players like [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic and [Clarence] Seedorf. To see the difficulty they are in now is upsetting, but every club goes through moments when things are not going so well.
"But we've got to believe in Milan. They can get back to the top again. I gave all I had for Milan, but then I got to the stage when I felt it was time to go back to Germany."