Andre Villas-Boas Confirms Zenit St. Petersburg Exit After Refusing New Contract

Zenit Saint Petersburg manager Andre Villas-Boas has confirmed that he will leave the Russian club at the end of the season having turned down the offer of a contract extension.

The 37-year-old Portuguese manager told Zenit's official website that the 2015-16 campaign would be his last in charge: "Talking about a contract extension, when we last met with you I said that the club had made ​​me an offer at the end of last season, I have refused and at the end of the season I will leave the club."

The news is largely unsurprising as Villas-Boas tried to leave his post at the end of the 2014-15 season but was not allowed to do so by Zenit's hierarchy, per ESPN FC.

He has reportedly been upset by new Russian laws on foreign players that required him to move on Salomon Rondon to West Bromwich Albion, per the Independent's Jack Pitt-Brooke:

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager took over the top job at the Petrovsky Stadium from Luciano Spalletti in March 2014.

In his first full season with the club—the 2014-15 campaign—he won the Russian Premier League by seven points to second-placed CSKA Moscow.

After seven games of the new season Zenit sit in third place, six behind the league-leading Moscow outfit who have yet to drop a point.

Zenit begin their Champions League campaign with an away trip to Spanish club Valencia on Wednesday—Ligue 1's Lyon and Belgian outfit Gent join them in Group H—following a crucial clash with CSKA this weekend.

Having previously managed in the Premier League, a potential return to England could be on the cards for Villas-Boas, or he may perhaps prefer to return home to Portugal where he was so successful with Porto at the start of his career.