Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers said Thursday Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki will part ways with the Premier League club at the end of the season, according to reports in British media.
Okazaki, a member of Japan's past three World Cup squads, joined Leicester from German side Mainz in 2015 but has made just 20 appearances for Leicester City this season.
"He leaves a champion, he leaves as a legend in the club's history," Rodgers said at a press conference on Thursday.
The 33-year-old had initially eyed a transfer to another Premier League club in January but confirmed he would stay at Leicester City until his contract expires at the end of the season after a move failed to eventuate.
(Okazaki in action in a 2-1 Premier League win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion in February)
A premiership winner with the Foxes in 2016, Okazaki previously said he was willing to make a move if it would improve his chance of making the Japan squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
He was left out of Hajime Moriyasu's team for this year's Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates and a pair of international friendlies against Bolivia and Colombia in March.
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Okazaki has played in 136 matches for Leicester City, scoring 19 goals. The club has two premiership matches left to play this season and currently sits in eighth on the league table.
While at Leicester City, Okazaki became the second Japanese to win a Premier League title after Shinji Kagawa accomplished the feat in 2012-2013 with Manchester United.
It was the first winner's medal of Okazaki's career as he never won silverware with Shimizu S-Pulse in the J-League nor with Stuttgart or Mainz in the Bundesliga.
