As the Red Bulls trained at their stadium in Harrison, N.J., on Wednesday, preparing to travel for Thursday’s match at the Colorado Rapids, the club admitted failure when it said it had parted ways with its highest-profile acquisition of the off-season.

We will probably never know if it was age, lack of playing time, lack of interest or a dissatisfaction in the skill level of his teammates and in Major League Soccer. But whatever the reason, the Red Bulls and their Brazilian midfielder Juninho Pernambucano, 38, said they had mutually agreed to cancel his contract.

“We are very disappointed that Juninho has decided to return to Brazil because he is a great professional and a very talented footballer,” Andy Roxburgh, the club’s sporting director, said in a statement. “We wish him all of the best and thank him for his valuable contributions during the first half of the 2013 M.L.S. campaign.”