Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager, has confirmed that midfielder Gaizka Mendieta will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
The former Barcelona, Lazio and Valencia star has featured only in reserve matches for the club this season, as injuries and a lengthy spell trying to regain match fitness, have all but ended his Middlesbrough career.
Mendieta, 34, has played 38 times for the Spanish national side, scoring on ten occasions.
In 2001 he was named ‘European Midfielder Of The Season’, after reaching his second successive European Cup final. That brought about a £38m move to Lazio shortly after.
Since that transfer, however, his career has stuttered. Loan spells at Barcelona and Middlesbrough followed, before then-Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren made his stay on Teesside permanent.
He will always be remembered by Middlesbrough supporters for playing his part in the Carling Cup-winning side of 2004.
Yet sentiment counts for little in the modern world of football, and the time has come to depart company with the midfielder.
Southgate admitted, ‘Mendi (Mendieta) wanted to stay and work with us, but we won’t be offering him a contract in the summer.’
‘He had some interest from America early in the season and a couple of other countries, but nothing that appealed to him at the time.’
‘I don’t know what his thoughts are towards next season,’ he added.
In December, Spanish newspaper reports suggested that the player was planning to retire at the end of the campaign.
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Southgate should let Mendi play in the last home game of the season as a farewell appearance for the Boro fans.
I agree, but he won’t. I don’t think that Mendi deserved to be treated this way.
Thanks god he is going to be off. Way past it and will be picking up a fat wage packet every week for doing nothing.
I thought you sold him ages ago! Haven’t seen him playing for a long time now.