Football
Richard Jolly, ESPN.com writer 9y

Manchester City release John Guidetti after contract expires

John Guidetti has officially left Manchester City after his contract at the Etihad Stadium expired at the end of June.

Guidetti, who was not offered a new deal by the Premier League runners-up, helped Sweden win the European Under-21 Championships on Tuesday, when he scored the first spot kick in their 4-3 shootout win over Portugal in the final.

Now the 23-year-old striker, who has been linked with Sevilla and Trabzonspor, is a free agent.

Guidetti's sole first-team game for City came in the League Cup against West Bromwich Albion in 2010. He subsequently went on loan to Burnley and Feyenoord, for whom he scored 20 goals in 23 Eredivisie games, and City then hoped to raise £6 million by selling him.

But Guidetti suffered a setback with a virus and a nerve injury and then had loan spells at Stoke, where he failed to score, and Celtic, mustering 15 goals in 35 games for the Scottish champions.

The striker, who has won two senior caps for Sweden, scored two goals in the European U21 Championship, and says, while of course it would be nice to play in the Premier League, he and his agent will discuss his future at the end of the week.

"Right now, I don't have to prove anything [to the Premier League] with this golden thing around my neck," Guidetti said in the post-match mixed zone following his U21 Euro triumph. "I'm so happy.

"The Premier League is a fantastic league. Of course, it's a dream for everybody to play in there, that's normal, but I don't know what's going to happen.

"I tried to do my best to make sure my future is good. I got the bronze shoe, I would have got the gold if I would have scored one more goal.

"But I don't care about that -- right now I'm just happy to be here and to win, and it's amazing.

"My agent said: 'Enjoy, I'll see you Friday, and we're going to discuss it'."

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