Derby County have sacked club captain Richard Keogh, who was left with a serious knee injury after a car crash following a boozy night out in September.
The 33-year-old former Cheltenham Town loan defender is expected to be out of action for at least a year, having undergone surgery on the damaged knee.
According to a report in The Guardian, he was on £24,000 per week on a contract that was due to expire in June 2020.
He is thought to have been offered a massive pay cut if he wanted to see out his deal, which was unacceptable to the Republic of Ireland international.
Keogh had been out with Rams team mates including Tom Lawrence, who was driving the vehicle after a squad bonding day.
Lawrence's car went into the back of team mate Mason Bennett's before going across a roundabout and hitting a lamppost.
Keogh was left unconscious at the scene after Bennett and Lawrence fled, returning 45 minutes later, when they were arrested, later admitting to drink-driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident.
Each was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid community service and banned from driving for two years.
Most Read
Derby fined both players six weeks' wages, but they have since returned to action for the Championship club.
Keogh, who will now begin his long rehabilitation on his own, appeared for Cheltenham on loan from Bristol City in 2007/08, helping the Robins avoid relegation from League One under boss Keith Downing.
The Guardian reports that he feels let down by the Rams after over nine years at Pride Park, having joined them from Coventry City in 2012.
Therefore his lawyers and representatives from the Players' Football Association are said to have got involved in the matter.