It felt as though this decision was coming although we didn't know for sure.
And neither, it seems, did Phil Jagielka .
But earlier this evening the Everton captain after 12 years, in a message on his Instagram account, which also confirmed he had been in the dark over his future until very recently.
Jagielka thanked chairman Bill Kenwright , the supporters and spoke glowingly about his time at the club but, noticeably, began his address in more pointed terms.
“It's been hard to confirm my situation for next season as that decision hadn’t been fully made by the club until now,” he wrote.
Breaking up is never easy, especially after so long together and Jagielka didn't want to give up on the relationship but the club want to move on.
It wasn't an announcement done in tandem with the Blues, either.
Everton were letting him go and the 36-year-old wasn't going to wait on ceremony before letting people know what was happening.
After waiting for an answer he wanted it to be known, and - would not follow until over an hour later.
Clearly, he's bitterly disappointed.
Whereas we were aware that Everton had made an offer of a new contract to Leighton Baines, there was less noise coming out of Goodison over Jagielka and his words tonight suggest no deal was ever put on the table.
In an interview with the ECHO in April, he asked for his contract situation to be resolved “sooner rather than later”.
Jagielka, officially out of contract in three-and-a-bit-weeks, may well say his plea fell on deaf ears but the club needed longer to take a look at the transfer market before making a decision.
As the season came to a close, and his late cameo against Burnley dismissed as not significant to his future, all that we knew was that more talks were planned.
They happened with Marco Silva last month and then, more recently, with Marcel Brands where the decision was finally made that the club stalwart would not be getting a new deal.
It's particularly sad to see Jagielka leave but the ruthless among us would be quick to offer a reminder that there can be no room for sentiment at a club looking to progress.
However true, it's still disappointing.
And that's not to say there wasn't a case for keeping the vastly experienced 36-year-old on the books for another 12 months and using his knowledge to improve the younger centre-halves ahead of him in the queue.
The counter to that, of course, is that Jagielka made only four league starts last season and with Everton in need of reducing the size of their squad – and the extent of their wage bill – the club captain was the obvious next casualty of the cull.
Understandably, he would see it differently. Silva and Brands did not take the decision lightly and they found it tough.
Calls for an overdue testimonial have already gathered pace but it is unclear if Everton are planning to squeeze one into their summer schedule.
Jagielka, of course, could have found a new club by then.
He didn't want to spend the summer having to look for one but, finally, at least he knows for sure.
