Gary Lineker cheekily addressed the swirling rumours that Saturday night's Match of the Day could mark his swansong on the programme.
The high-earning presenter, bagging an eye-watering £1.3million per year and now in his last stretch of the current BBC deal at age 63, may soon hang up his Match of the Day boots, a tenure dating back to the tail-end of the last millennium in 1999.
The punditry arena buzzed with whispers of his potential exit following a Daily Mail scoop indicating the BBC was prepping a press release to confirm his departure.
Fuelled by the Mail's revelation of a purported internal email, speculation peaked over the weekend's screening being Lineker's curtain call.
Yet, Lineker met the rampant conjecture squarely from the show's start, quipping immediately after the title sequence: "Seven games on the way and it's my final show.... Before the international break."
Lineker had previously dodged questions about the claim upon enquiry earlier in the week. Meanwhile, the BBC has been quick to quash such reports, insisting Lineker is still their man with contractual obligations through season's end.
In response to the frenzy, the BBC released a statement explaining there's nothing yet slated, stressing no consensus reached regarding his future engagement and underscoring: "We have nothing to announce, and we have not agreed next steps with regard to his contract. He is on contract until the end of the season."
Rumours are swirling that Lineker, who faced suspension last year following his controversial comparison of the Tory immigration policy to that of Nazi Germany, might be on thin ice with the new director of sport, Alex Kay-Jelski. Reports from The Mail on Sunday suggest dissatisfaction from Kay-Jelski over Lineker's outspokenness on his successful podcast, "The Rest is Football."
A confidant of Lineker shared with The Mail on Sunday: "Gary doesn't deserve this. If they are worried about how much they pay him, then they should pay him less. What's Gary supposed to do?
"He's been a great presenter, people love him. He's Mr Football. The BBC are lucky to have had him."
Discussing his tenure and possible future with Match of the Day while on BBC Breakfast earlier this year, Lineker reflected: "It depends how long they want me, I suppose," adding, "I love doing it at the moment; I've still got another year left, at least. So we'll have to wait and see what happens."
He also mused on the changes in football and television rights, indicating their potential impact on his role: "Obviously it's another change in football and television and the rights of the Premier League and stuff like that. All of these things will play a part. But I just feel it's been an absolute privilege to have presented it for 25 years now. I must be getting old! ".
