Former Chelsea and Brazil midfielder Ramires is considering bringing an end to his playing career, Goal can confirm.
Palmeiras confirmed on Friday that the 33-year-old's contract had been terminated by mutual consent and the player admitted in an Instagram post on Saturday morning that "personal" factors were behind his departure.
"As most of you may already know, the Palmeiras management and I decided that it would be good for both parties to end my bond with the club, which happened in the most friendly and calm way possible," he wrote.
"My motivations are personal and related to situations that I prefer not to reveal at the moment. I'm just here to thank Palmeiras, all the management, for the professional and correct manner that they treated me, and to my team-mates, for friendship, affection and respect.
"I could not fail to express my special gratitude to coach Abel Ferreira at that moment for everything he did for me in the brief period we were together.
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"Thank you for allowing me to show you that with sequence and confidence I can contribute wherever I play in the future. I will be cheering for everything to work out for the club for the rest of the season. A big hug and stay with God."
Ramires was contracted at Palmeiras until 2023 but his sudden departure stems from a serious consideration over whether he intends to keep playing.
Goal understands that the veteran midfielder has two offers from clubs in Japan but that the Brazilian is leaning towards hanging up the boots.
Ramires began his professional career with Joinville before subsequent moves to Cruzeiro, Benfica, Chelsea and Jiangsu Suning.
The 33-year-old's most successful stint was at Stamford Bridge where he won the Champions League, Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup across a six-year stint.
Speaking earlier this year , Ramires opened up on why he isn't surprised to see former team-mate Frank Lampard developing into a successful manager at Chelsea.
“I knew Frank very well. His understanding of positional play is one of the best I have come across and he was always paying attention to movement so it’s easy if you’ve got eyes for such things," Ramires told the Mirror .
“He had passion for the game and he had love and the energy was there and when there is that in the eyes as well it’s easy."