Pascal Gross has revealed why he turned down a possible return to Germany.

But he has slammed a former Albion star as “disrespectful” for his criticism of the Bundesliga.

Gross is on board with the Seagulls for two more seasons, despite interest from his home country.

He says he has been annoyed by suggestions he would have gone to Werder Bremen but for money.

And he has praised Albion’s show of faith in offering him two more years as key to what was quite a quick decision.

In an interview with Kicker magazine in Germany, Gross said: “It was an important decision for the family.

“In addition, we decided at the club that we wanted to finish the season in the best possible way, which we managed to do with more than 50 points, and to put the personal talks on the back burner.”

Asked why he stayed, he said: “The sporting reasons, the Premier League and how the club tried to keep me.

“That they gave me a two-year contract and that under the coach they would definitely keep me.”

Gross said he had interest from Germany but added: “I didn’t let it get that far.

“It could have happened because there were some requests, but I’m not one to play games, so I made my decision shortly after the end of the season.

“The Premier League is more attractive to me at the moment because it’s more balanced and broader.

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“But I would never give the Bundesliga a bad rating.

“And, of course, it has a hard time keeping up financially with the “50-plus-one” rule.”

Ex-Seagulls striker Dean Saunders recently criticised Sadio Mane for moving from Liverpool to Bayern Munich, claiming: “He’ll coast for two years and ruin the best two years of his life as a footballer.

Gross said: “That’s just disrespectful of him.

“No, the Bundesliga is good.

“Look at Bayern, look at Frankfurt’s victory in the Europa League.

“In general, their reputation is also high in England.”

Additional reporting by Jan Malte Wagener