KILMARNOCK have allowed League Cup final goal-scoring hero Dieter Van Tornhout to quit the Ayrshire club.
The Rugby Park side agreed that hitman Van Tornhout could move closer to his seriously ill father Alex in Belgium.
The Belgian's father has been given only weeks to live as he is suffering from pancreatic cancer and Kilmarnock manager Kenny Shiels revealed they have let him move back home.
The 27-year-old only joined Killie in January from Cypriot outfit Nea Salamis Famagusta and wrote his name in the Rugby Park history books when he fired home the winner against Celtic in the last season's final.
Shiels said: "Dieter isn't coming back to the club. His father is not well so we are letting him get a club closer to his family.
"He wants to stay with his family in Belgium because his father has only been given a few weeks to live and he wants to be with them in the aftermath of that.
"We had to be sensitive to that. He did well for us and he has his place in Kilmarnock history after scoring the goal in the League Cup Final.
"We're sad to see Dieter leave but we are compassionate to his needs as he has to look after his family."
Van Tornhout is one of eight players who have moved on from Shiels' squad over the summer, and the Killie manager knows he will need to rely heavily on the youngsters coming through
He said: "We are deve-loping 16 youth players to bring through and we'll work with what we have.
"We know we're understaffed but we'll continue to do the work and we've got to put our faith in youth.
"People have got to be patient and we will improve over the next three years but we're starting from base again."