Lothar Matthaus does not believe Ilkay Gundogan would succeed at a top European club and should therefore stay at Borussia Dortmund.
Gundogan, 24, was expected to leave the club this summer but now looks set to sign a new deal at Dortmund after reported interest from Manchester United did not materialise.
The Germany international suffered a serious back injury which kept him to just three appearances in 2013-14 for Dortmund and Matthaus believes that Europe's elite would not have a place for him if he moved.
"I do not think that Gundogan would've made it into the first team at top European clubs like Barcelona, Bayern or Paris Saint-Germain," he told Sport Bild. "At Dortmund, the situation is different.
"The club have given him time to recover his fitness and, as a professional footballer, it's time to repay that faith and extend his contract until 2019. He now has a great opportunity to develop in a world-class BVB side and be involved in the national team again."
Gundogan played 33 times for Dortmund in 2014-15, but his father Irfan insists that constant talk about his son's wish to leave has harmed his reputation with the Dortmund supporters.
"Ilkay did not take a medical at any other club or sat down at the negotiating table," he told Sport Bild. "He was always focused on his sporting prospects. We always kept BVB informed about the steps we took. Maybe our only mistake was our honesty."