Ahn Jung-Hwan is refusing to return to Perugia, according to his agent, even though the Italian club claims to have patched up a bitter row with the South Korean World Cup hero.
The pinup boy of Korean soccer is instead lining up a move to another European league with clubs in England, Germany, Scotland and Spain all said to be interested.
Ahn is one of a host of Korean players now hoping to secure a contract with a top European club after South Korea reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
But the player is still angry with his former Italian club, said his agent.
"He will never play again for Perugia," said a statement released by the agent. "We will never consider his transfer to Perugia, which mounted a character assassination against Ahn just because he scored against Italy."
The agent said Perugia had failed to keep to FIFA's rules on extending a contract and was also four months in arrears on Ahn's wages.
Perugia's president Luciano Gaucci launched an extraordinary attack on Ahn after he scored the winning goal in South Korea's 2-1 win over Italy in the second round of the World Cup last week.
Gaucci said the 25-year-old striker would never play in Italy again because he had "ruined" Italian soccer. "He'll just have to go back to Korea and earn 100,000 lire (€50) a month."
But Perugia performed a stunning u-turn this week saying it had completed his transfer from South Korean club Busan I.cons. Ahn had been on loan from Busan last season but the deal ends on Sunday.
"The misunderstandings which came to light before and after the Italy-South Korea match have been cleared up," Perugia said in a statement released.
According to the statement Ahn has spoken to Perugia manager Alessandro Gaucci, the president's son, several times by telephone.
But Ahn's agent said that following talks with the Busan I.cons "we will go for a club which offers the best terms."
The agent said Chelsea and West Ham in the Premiership, Spain's Atletico Madrid, SV Hamburg of Germany and Rangers in Scotland were all interested in the striker.