Gary Lineker accepts he will “have to slow down at some point”, with continuing speculation over his future on Match Of The Day.

Lineker, who turns 64 at the end of November, is the highest-paid on-air talent at the BBC and is under contract until the end of the football season.

Last month, the corporation denied an announcement was pending regarding his future.

Lineker had laughed off the speculation, joking the Match of the Day show in early October was his final one – then quickly adding: “before the international break”.

The 63-year-old also oversees a successful podcast business, which includes the popular The Rest Is Football, which he hosts alongside Match Of The Day pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Lineker gave a wide-ranging interview to Esquire magazine talking about Goalhanger Podcasts, which was conducted in early August this year and was published in the Winter issue.

He was asked if he had contemplated ending his long association with the BBC to focus on his other venture full-time, possibly in the United States.

Gary Lineker during the FWA Footballer of the Year awards
Gary Lineker has continually played down speculation over his future with the BBC (John Walton/PA)

Lineker said: “I could do. Whether that will be the case I don’t know. At some point, I have to slow down somewhere… I’m getting old.”

The former England, Tottenham and Barcelona striker took over the BBC’s flagship football highlights show in 1999 after predecessor Des Lynam joined ITV.

Lineker has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35million in the year 2023/24, according to the corporation’s annual report published in July.