Confirmed: Otavio to leave Wolfsburg
VfL Wolfsburg mainstay Paulo Otavio confirmed that he would be leaving the club after four seasons on Thursday.
Paulo Otavio will not extend his expiring contract with VfL Wolfsburg. Despite some inclination to carry on with Germany's green company team, the 28-year-old has come to the conclusion that a parting of ways is better for both parties. Otavio - who has played his last match in a VfL tricot after incurring an ankle injury - noted that it was not a decision he took lightly in a statement released by the club.
"My time in Wolfsburg and saying goodbye is really not easy for me," the left-back is quoted as saying on the club's website, "VfL has given me the opportunity to establish myself at the highest level in the Bundesliga. I thank those responsible for the trust they have placed in me and wish the club every success for the future."
VfL trainer Nikon Kovac and sporting CEO Marcel Schäfer also conveyed warm wishes for Otavio in the future in separate statements. Schäfer made certain to wish the Brazilian well in recuperating from his current injury. The long-time mainstay in German football maintains an estimated market worth of €6.5 million in the latest transfermarkt listings.
The new injury will neverhteless certainly preclude Octavio's ability to test the market as a free-agent this summer. Otavio would have had serious trouble competing for a starting spot with Wolfsburg next year as defenders Micky van de Ven and Nicolas Cozza ostensibly would have occupied the spaces above him on the depth chart.