Tim Cahill issues classy statement after being released suddenly by Chinese team

Tim Cahill has been deemed surplus to requirements at Shanghai Shenhua.

You'd imagine the 36 year old Australian would be exactly the type of player teams in emerging leagues would be delighted to have: An international, with bags of experience in European football, a high profile and who can still perform at a reasonable level despite his best days being behind him. However, the nouveau riche Chinese Super League team, which already features Demba Ba and recently added midfielder Fredy Guarin from Inter Milan, appears to now consider itself too good for Cahill The former Everton midfielder joined last March, scored an impressive 12 goals in 36 games last season and had only signed a new deal in November. And when the club terminated his contract on Tuesday. Cahill appeared genuinely upset by the development, posting his thanks to the Shenhua fans and his surprise at the decision. "I'm very sorry to announce that I have reached an agreement with Shanghai Shenhua to terminate my contract after being told that I'm not part of the new coach Manzano's plans for the 2016 season having only just signed a new contract in November," Cahill wrote. "This is very sad especially after what I feel I have helped to build in Shanghai Shenhua on and off the park. Just thinking about saying goodbye to my team-mates and especially the amazing fans is heartbreaking."

I'm very sorry to announce that I have reached an agreement with Shanghai Shenhua to terminate my contract after being told that I'm not part of the new coach Manzano's plans for the 2016 season having only just signed a new contract in November. This is very sad especially after what I feel I have helped to build in Shanghai Shenhua on and off the park. Just thinking about saying goodbye to my team-mates and especially the amazing fans is heartbreaking. Regardless of whether my contract is being honored and paid out in full, I would much rather have seen it out and finished what we started. I will always think about what could have been for us as a club in 2016.  I will be able to share more information in the next 48 hours once the final details have been completed. Next chapter coming very soon! I would like to thank the amazing Shenhua supporters, the Chinese staff members and all my teammates for your amazing support; you will all be remembered by my family and myself. I would also like to thank my Chinese partner SECA for their continued support in my career. 我怀着十分遗憾的心情告诉大家，上海绿地申花足球俱乐部（下称俱乐部）与我已经达成协议，终止我在去年十一月份刚刚和俱乐部签下的新合同。在此之前，俱乐部通知我已不是球队新任主教练曼萨诺在2016赛季计划中的一员。 不管是场内还是场外，我都对这支球队倾注了所有的心血，因此，当这一天到来的时候尤其令人伤感。一想到要与队友和那些令人难以置信的球迷们道别，就让我心痛不已。 无论我现在与俱乐部的合同是否被尊重、合同违约金是否会被完全支付，在我的内心深处，我更加希望自己能履行完去年11月与俱乐部新签订的合同，达成我们当时共同制定的目标，为俱乐部贡献我的所有。在我心里，一直构想着俱乐部在2016年可以取得的成就——为这个美妙的球队和伟大的城市带来奖杯。 在接下来的48小时中，我将和俱乐部商定最终细节，届时，我可以和大家分享更多。 我想借此机会，向一直以来给我无限支持且无与伦比的申花俱乐部球迷、俱乐部中的中国工作人员和我的所有队友们表示衷心的感谢。我和我的家庭会一直将你们放在心里。同时，我想对我的中国合作伙伴盛力世家表示感谢。

A photo posted by Tim Cahill (@tim_cahill) on Feb 16, 2016 at 1:16am PST