Roy Keane has left Manchester United by mutual consent.
United confirmed on Friday that Keane, 34, had left with immediate effect, bringing to a sudden end his 12-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.
Keane had said he was not expecting to get a new contract, with his current deal up at the end of the season.
But he criticised the side last month in an interview to MUTV, which was never shown, and that appears to have brought forward his departure.
Keane's outburst on MUTV, which is the club's own television station, came after a 4-1 defeat to Middlesbrough in which he did not feature because he broke his foot in a 0-0 draw against Liverpool on 18 September.
That game at Anfield now becomes his last game for United.
Keane's representative Michael Kennedy met United chief executive David Gill at Old Trafford on Friday to thrash out details of Keane's severance, and the stunning news was then announced.
Amazingly, Keane trained with United on Friday morning.
And, during manager Sir Alex Ferguson's weekly media conference which came before the announcement, the Scot said his captain was training well and was "not far away" from a full recovery from injury.