Maniche Released By Atletico Madrid

Maniche has been released by Atletico Madrid this afternoon and will now start to look for a new club this summer.

The Portuguese international's contract was set to expire this summer but both parties have reached an agreement which will see him leave immediately.

The decision calls time on an eventful, if not entirely successful spell with Atletico, and will make the midfielder a free agent this summer.

During his three seasons with the club he has been involved with plenty of altercations with the coaches, including one with Javier Aguirre which saw him leave on loan to Inter last summer.

When he returned, he was given another chance by the Mexican, but soon found himself on the fringes again, and recently had been banned from playing after not attending a game at home.

That was thought not to be the first time he had committed that offence, but it appears that the decision to release him has been made in the wake of that.

The official Atletico Madrid website released a communique this evening, wishing the player the best of luck in the future.

"Club Atlético de Madrid and Nuno Maniche have reached a satisfactory agreement to rescind the contract of the Portuguese player, which was to expire on 30 June. In this manner, Maniche is free to sign with another team. The ‘rojiblanco’ organisation wishes the footballer, who wore the red-and-white jersey of Atlético for the past three seasons, luck in his future endeavours," read the statement.

James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com