Peter Haring insists he's keen to remain at Hearts no matter what division the Gorgie club play in next season.
The high-energy midfielder last played in the 2019 Scottish Cup final against Celtic after a slew of mystery injuries kept him out for the entirety of last season.
Hearts announced on Monday that 15 players have departed Tynecastle along with former management duo Craig Levein and Austin MacPhee as the club desperately try and avoid relegation to the Championship through league reconstruction.
Austrian star Haring, however, claims he is in Edinburgh for the long haul.
He said: "The most important thing is that I will soon be fit and be able to train again. Then we will analyse the situation and decide.
"But I still have a two-year contract here and that also applies to the second division. No matter what happens, I know that the club will do everything to get back to the top division as quickly as possible.
"The last time I played a match was almost exactly a year ago. It all started with a hernia operation. Since then I have had complaints in the abdomen and adductor area. Then there was an inflammation of the pubis bone, which inflamed after a few training sessions.
"I was supposed to have a final surgery just before the coronavirus pandemic broke out and it was cancelled, which was frustrating, but it will be very soon.
"I'm still doing my rehab in Edinburgh, which an absolutely awesome city. The quality of life is a dream."
And Haring admits he's still stunned Hearts could be locked out of the Premiership and he is pessimistic about returning to training next week.
He pointed out: "It's the absolute worse case scenario - not just for the club, but for the league too.
"It's the equivalent of relegating Rapid Vienna in Austria. We have an average attendance of 17,000.
“Our owner wants to make a proposal so that the leagues are increased. But this also requires a majority. But if there are more clubs, it would also mean less money for the other clubs. It's all very complicated.
"There's still hope, but it is very slim.
"Everything is still closed here, no loosening is in sight. The planned start of training on June 10th is not very realistic."
