Costa Rica's Ruiz seeking amicable deal to leave Santos

SAN JOSE - Costa Rica international midfielder Bryan Ruiz said Tuesday that he hopes to reach a mutual agreement to leave Brazil's Santos this month.

Injuries have restricted the 34-year-old to just 14 first-team appearances since he joined Santos from Sporting Lisbon in July 2018.

The former Fulham player, who is contracted with Santos until December, said he will only leave the club if he is fully compensated for unpaid wages.

"Until they [Santos] fulfil their duties, I won't terminate the contract," said Ruiz, who has been capped 125 times for Costa Rica and captained the team at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.

"We have until January 31 to be able to negotiate with clubs in leagues with transfer windows. It's difficult, but I hope the situation will be resolved by then."

Ruiz last year lost his place in Costa Rica's national team and manager Ronald Gonzalez has said the veteran playmaker will only return if he plays regularly at club level.

"I'll do my best, but we need to wait and see," Ruiz said. "I'm going to try to sort this out in January. But I can't forgo something that belong to me and that's written into my contract," he added.