“Looking ahead to next season and beyond, we’ve decided to make personnel changes to our squad and rely more heavily on other players in defence,” said sporting director Sven Mislintat.

“For this ongoing process, we feel it’s necessary and sensible to have an appropriate squad size. We’ve made Holger fully aware of this decision, which was made purely for sporting reasons.”

Badstuber, 31, said he accepted the decision “even if I find it difficult because I’m convinced that I can help the club at Bundesliga level.”

The 31-times capped German international Badstuber played with Stuttgart as a youth before returning in 2017 after a spell with Bayern Munich.

He helped the side gain promotion from the second division last season although had lost his starting place by the end of the campaign.