INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle have terminated the contract of midfielder Markus Paatelainen.
The 25-year-old, the younger brother of Hibernian manager Mixu, suffered cruciate knee ligament damage during a training session in May and has been recuperating in his native Finland after undergoing surgery.
Paatelainen joined Caley Thistle in J
anuary 2007 and was awarded a new six-month contract in the summer.
Manager Craig Brewster told the club's official website: "We have agreed with Markus to terminate his contract. I spoke to him and he felt that the best thing for him was to remain in Finland and we did not want to stand in his way.
"I felt he was very unlucky with injuries and let's hope that changes when he is at home. He is only back jogging now and is still about three months away from being able to play.
"He wanted to let me know his thoughts as soon as possible and I really appreciated that. If Markus came back to the club, he would have to start building himself up from the beginning again so let's hope for his sake he will be happy and injury-free."
Paatelainen first arrived in Scottish football with Aberdeen in 2004 but failed to make the breakthrough to the first team and joined brothers Mixu and Mikko Paatelainen at Cowdenbeath in September 2005.
He scored six goals to help set Cowdenbeath, managed by Mixu, on their way to the Third Division title in his first season, but a freak injury in February 2006 almost resulted in him losing his right leg after a delay in getting him to hospital.
After joining Inverness, Paatelainen contributed three goals in 17 first-team appearances.
Brewster reassured supporters that Paatelainen's departure will bring a new arrival at Inverness when the transfer window reopens.
"It guarantees that I will bring in an extra body in January as we are definitely thin on the ground for players," he said. "That is something we have to look at."
