Kiessling considering Leverkusen exit

Stefan Kiessling admitted he is considering leaving Bayer Leverkusen in the January transfer window.

The 31-year-old has only started nine Bundesliga matches this season, making six appearances from the bench as the impressive Javier Hernandez has hogged the limelight.

The pair were on target in Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of Borussia Monchengladbach, but the lack of game time means the German, who moved to the BayArena in 2006, may be forced to move on despite his affection for the club.

“I’ve got to be honest and say we’ll have to see. I’ve given it some thought and I will keep thinking about it,” Kiessling told Sky Sports Deutschland.

“The situation is that I would like to be playing – I’ve been here for 10 years and love this club and everybody knows how happy I am here.

“I’ve got a pretty good relationship with the fans and of course also with the club. I love playing here and I love this club, and it’s overall a very, very difficult situation for me and everybody knows this.

“I want to be playing a bit of football at the end of my career and that is why I’ve got to give things good thought. I’ll speak to the bosses and see what the best solution is.”

The rout of Monchengladbach moved Leverkusen to within two points of the top four.