Stuttgart lose Didavi, sign Zimmer

Influential playmaker Daniel Didavi said on Tuesday he will leave VfB Stuttgart in summer for VfL Wolfsburg on a free transfer.

"It was the most difficult decision of my life," Didavi, 26, told reporters, adding he informed club officials in winter that he would not renew his contract.

Wolfsburg were yet to confirm the arrival of Didavi who apart from a 2011-12 loan spell at Nuremberg has been at Stuttgart since 2003.

He helped Stuttgart avoid relegation last season, and with 10 goals and five assists is a key player again for them this season in which Stuttgart lie 12th, six points above the danger zone.

"We would have liked to have kept Dida beyond the summer," Stuttgart sports director Robin Dutt said.

Also on Tuesday, Stuttgart announced the signing of Germany Under-21 team full back Jean Zimmer from second division Kaiserslautern from July 1 onwards until 2020.

Midfielder Serey Die is meanwhile out for the season with a torn adductor tendon which requires surgery, Stuttgart said in a statement.