Lazio director Igli Tare has revealed the club have withdrawn their contract offer for star defender Stefan de Vrij.
The Netherlands international will now leave Lazio at the end of the current season when his existing deal expires.
De Vrij has spent the last four years at Lazio and established himself as one of the club’s best players during that period.
The 26-year-old has been regularly linked with a move to the Premier League in recent years and now he is free to secure a Bosman transfer.
“Lazio have withdrawn the proposal we made for a new contract to De Vrij,” he told Mediaset Premium before their 2-0 win over Verona on Monday night, via Football Italia.
“We are withdrawing for reasons that we will explain later on. It was a choice made after many months of negotiations, but there is also a limit to how things went.
“He has been an exemplary professional and we thank him for that as well as what he’ll do until the end of the season. He gave a lot to the club, just as we gave a great deal to him, but our paths will divide in June.
“It’s a matter of fairness. This is not the opportune time to give the reasons for this decision, but we had to give a response and we gave it this evening.
“It is better to look forward, as Lazio are a side who have grown in recent years and will continue to grow, because we certainly do not lack players.”
“It’s not an issue of him agreeing terms with other clubs, but of being fair in negotiations. We did things the right way, but things changed at the last moment. We no longer wish to continue along this path.”
No player in Serie A has a higher pass accuracy than De Vrij this season (92.5%).
