United States international John Anthony Brooks has switched agents amid ongoing contract talks with Hertha Berlin.
Brooks, 22, is under contract at Hertha until 2017, and he has been in talks with the club over a new deal for a while.
Ahead of the new season, kicker reported that Berlin hope to tie the defender to a new deal until 2019, and coach Pal Dardai called him "an outstanding centre-back."
Brooks has yet to put pen to paper on new terms, and to complicate matters he has switched his agents, Berlin-based newspaper BZ reported on Tuesday.
He had been under contract at Sports Total, which also represents Germany stars Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos and Marco Reus, but has now opted to join Berlin-based agent Kadir Ozdogan.
"He is now the person in charge," the centre-back told BZ, after reports said the last round of contract talks involved an attempt to negotiate a buy-out clause.
The paper reported that Sports Total, and his previous agent Maikel Stevens, were not able to present Brooks an offer from a top club, so he decided to join Ozdogan and his company United Management.
After coming through the youth ranks at Hertha, Brooks, who is the son of an American serviceman, opted to represent his father's country in 2013.
He has since featured for United States, most prominently at the 2014 World Cup, where his last-minute header against Ghana secured Jurgen Klinsmann's side victory.
He has, however, struggled to make an impact in the new Bundesliga season, and has only started one match for the club.
During his recent trip to the States with the national team, Brooks sustained a muscular injury which ruled him out for Hertha's 2-1 defeat of Stuttgart at the weekend.
When asked when he'll return, Brooks said: "I don't exactly know. I receive treatment from the Hertha physios. They assume that my thigh problems are caused by my back, which is a bit stiff. It's better already, but it looks like I'll need a couple of more days."