It is a huge shame.
I know wages are a massive issue, and each year that ticks by he'll be less effective (time catches up with us all), but I still think if he was here next year in the championship and we play to his strengths he'd score a bucket load of goals for us and seriously help our quick return.
I think part of the reason he's looked less effective this season is because in spite of his age he's been a regular starter, and often left on the pitch. We needed to have someone decent enough to offer him proper competition (because even fit Daka didn't really do that), and ease his burden. Less minutes and I think he's more effective.
I fear he's going to be as impossible to replace as Kante and Mahrez, and we're going back to the yo yo club we were in the 90s and 2000s with no guarantee of any stay in the seasons we do go up, and no guarantee of promotion straight back when we go down.
It makes me feel sick thinking about how quickly we have declined, and the harsh reality we've got to face, that the dream we've all sharing for the last decade may finally be truely over.