World Cup winner Kevin Grosskreutz has left Stuttgart by mutual consent following a city-centre altercation that left him hospitalised.
Wide man Grosskreutz part of Germany s victorious squad in Brazil in 2014 was admitted to hospital with a laceration to his head following an incident in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
The 28-year-old has since been discharged but will not play for 2. Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart again after both parties agreed to go their separate ways.
I made a mistake, which I am very sorry about, he said in a statement. I accept the consequences and regret that my time at VfB is over.
I would like to thank the team, the staff and especially the fans, who have supported me well in the last few days.
Grosskreutz was subsequently quoted as telling a news conference: I don t want anything to do with professional football for the time being.
Sporting director Jan Schindelmeiser commented that Grosskreutz had screwed up big , while head coach Hannes Wolf conceded the club were left with little option but to allow him to leave.
After what happened, the termination of the co-operation with Kevin was the only logical step, he said.
This is not a simple situation for us. Nevertheless, it is important now that we shape the immediate future of the club and concentrate as quickly as possible on the difficult game in Braunschweig [on Monday].
