Christophe Berra has dropped his strongest hint yet that his time at Ipswich could be up at the end of the season when his current contract expires.
Berra, 31, has the difficult decision whether to extend his time south of the border to eight years — he was at Wolves for four and by next summer will have spent a similar period at Portman Road — or return to his native Edinburgh in order to spend more time with his young daughter.
He said: "I’ve had a great time down here and as I’ve said before my daughter is four and at some point I’d want to go back home.
"That’s obvious — all my family and friends are there — but at the moment I’m enjoying my football. Ipswich have been good to me and hopefully I can repay them.”
Berra, who has netted 12 times in 147 appearances for Town, would not be short of offers if he chose to move back to Scotland, with former club Hearts one possible destination — but should he help Town win promotion to the Premier League it would make his decision all the more difficult.
He already has one eye on the future, intending to move into coaching and management when his playing days are over, but he is prepared to wait before following Town team-mates Luke Chambers and Jonathan Douglas, who have already started out on the road to gaining the necessary qualifications.
Berra added: "I want to do my coaching badges but not just yet. I’m still involved at international level with Scotland and the sessions are usually on in the summer when we have a game or just after we’ve played.
"To be honest I need to make time for myself so that I can take my daughter on holiday and do things like that. Hopefully there is still plenty of time for that.
"I’ve been in the Scotland squads regularly for about eight years and I’ve always turned up. I’ve missed very few through injury. I’ll still be there until that changes.
"It can obviously be frustrating when you travel and don’t get a game but I’m not the only one who misses out.
"You can have another 12 or 13 who are in the same position but I’m fortunate to have won 33 caps and you just have to get on with it. Life is short so you have to make the most of it sometimes.
"The aim is obviously to qualify for the World Cup finals in Russia in 2018, which will be difficult, that’s what we all strive for and only time will tell.”
Meanwhile, Berra is preparing to face fellow countryman Ross McCormack when big-spending Aston Villa, currently 17th in the Championship, come to town tomorrow searching for what would only be their second win of the season.
Berra admitted: "On paper Villa have a great squad. They have a lot of good players and have spent a lot of money.
"I’m sure they are not that far away but hopefully we can make it a difficult game for them at Portman Road, which a lot of teams have found in the past. That’s what we will be going all out to do.
"Ross is a top player and he has scored a lot of goals over the last three or four seasons. We’ll have to watch him but there are numerous other players who are dangerous.”
Asked if he was surprised that no Premier League had taken a punt on McCormack, who cost £12 million from Fulham last month and has netted twice in seven league games for Villa, Berra replied: "I suppose it’s down to budgets and to be honest these days the Premier League is worldwide and clubs are probably looking abroad for players they can sign for less money.
"Foreign players are generally cheaper and the British market is inflated, which means you can go to Brazil, Spain or wherever and find good strikers for half the price. It all depends on clubs’ budgets and the way they want to progress.”