Melbourne utility Colin Sylvia wants to stay at the AFL club and admits he needs to improve his form.
The 27-year-old becomes a free agent at the end of this season and there has been speculation he will leave the Demons.
But Sylvia said his management has been in discussions with the club through this year and he has no desire to go elsewhere.
“I want to remain a Demon, a one-club player,” he said.
“As long as we can come to an agreement, I will play the rest of my career here.
“I’ve been at the club for a long time – 10 years now, life member, it’s been a pretty big part of my life.
“I’d like to stay (and) hopefully the two parties can agree on a deal.”
Several teammates have left the struggling club in the last few years, but he said their thoughts on going elsewhere are “irrelevant” to whether he stays at Melbourne.
“I’m my own person and I will make the right decision for me,” he said.
He added Melbourne’s decision on who is coach next year will also not affect his decision.
While he acknowledges it is important – this could be the last contract of his AFL career – Sylvia said his focus remains playing well for Melbourne this season.
Melbourne have shown signs of improvement after a traumatic first half of the season that resulted in the sacking of coach Mark Neeld.
“I definitely haven’t been in this position before,” he said of free agency.
“I didn’t think deep (about) it early on in the year – obviously it was a tough start and a big challenge.
“I just wanted to see how the year unfolded and just focus on playing some consistent footy for this club.
“At the moment I’m still focusing on that. I don’t think things need to be rushed.”
While Sylvia has been among Melbourne’s better players this season, the midfielder and forward remains a lightning rod for criticism from Demons fans.
He has not played a full season since his 2004 debut and Sylvia was candid when asked about whether he was getting the most out of himself.
“I don’t think I do – I think the next however long I play is very important, to finish the career off on a high and get the absolute most out of it,” he said.
“I still think my best footy is ahead of me, if I can get that right and leave on a really good note.”
Sylvia plays his 150th game this Saturday against Geelong.
“I feel very fortunate to be able to actually get there – there were probably times where I doubted that I would,” he said.
“I had a lot of injuries early days and just thought footy wasn’t for me – I started to look at what else I could do outside of footy.
“But it all turned around.”