Fiorentina are considering sacking their goalkeeper Luigi Sepe after he announced on Thursday that his heart was no longer with the Serie A club.
Sepe was particularly disappointed to have been left out of Fiorentina's team for their Europa League clash with Tottenham Hotspur, as the 24-year-old had only previously been receiving playing time in the Viola's cup matches this season.
But that run of cup appearances came to an end when Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa picked first-choice Ciprian Tatarusanu against Spurs.
Within hours Sepe had posted a message on Instagram, in which he said it had been a mistake joining the club in the summer.
"I felt I need to write this today to apologise to a few people, I need to say sorry to two people," he wrote. "One is my wife, who told me to 'think hard about what you do and where you go, it is your choice and I will be with you but I think you would be better off staying at Napoli and seeing how the year goes'.
"The other person I owe an apology to is my agent, who fought hard for me in the summer to get me another year playing away from my city. Now, six months later, I feel the need to apologise to them and to tell them that they were both right and that it was I who made a mistake.
"My time with Fiorentina ends now, not contractually since I still have another three months here, but morally!"
Sepe has since removed the post, which has nevertheless been published by various Italian sites -- including calciomercato.com.
And his employers have seen it too.
"Sepe's remarks are totally out of order," said Fiorentina's sporting director Daniele Prade to ANSA. "We're going to apply the biggest sanction we possibly can and that could mean tearing up his contract."
Sepe has spent the past four seasons on loan at different clubs, first with Pisa, then Lanciano and, last season, with Empoli.
He was loaned to Fiorentina for a year at the start of the season and has a contract with parent-club Napoli that will run through until 2019 .