Norwich City goalkeeper John Ruddy has suggested that he is being released from the club for non-footballing reasons, but insisted that he understands the decision.
Ruddy is one of seven first-team players to be let go at the end of their contracts this summer, bringing an end to a seven-year stay at Carrow Road in which he made 243 appearances.
The one-time England international captained the Canaries on his final appearance on Sunday - a 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers - and he is confident that he still has a long career left in the game despite his release.
"It's disappointing obviously, but I think the direction that the club needs to go, it's a rebuild in structure. For reasons other than football, it was a decision that was made. The club did have the option on me, but mitigating circumstances within that contract meant that it was probably impossible for the club to uphold that," he told BBC Radio Norfolk.
"It was nice that we were told when we were and nice that I was able to go out in this manner on Sunday. Going back to when I was first here, Paul Lambert took what was a calculated risk, I'd say, of £250,000. You look back on that now, it's not an awful lot of money. I'm not sure you get too much goalkeeper for £250,000 these days.
"I was grateful to him, to (majority shareholder) Delia Smith and (former chief executive) David McNally for allowing me to join the club, for the years after that, apart from this season and last season, have been superb. Four of the seven years here have been in the Premier League. It's been a special time in my life. I'm only 30 years old, I'm not retiring tomorrow. We move onto a new day, a new challenge and hopefully I've got 10 years left in me."
Ruddy helped Norwich City to two promotions after joining the club from Everton in 2010.
Barney Corkhill
