Cyle Larin is ready to move on after leading Orlando City in scoring the past three seasons.

“I think I’m at the right place to go play in Europe and it’s the right time,” Larin said in an exclusive interview with the Orlando Sentinel Wednesday. “I think I’ll benefit. I have personal goals and dreams and I want to go to Europe and play. I think it’s the right time.”

Larin, 22, is entering the first of two option years left on his contract, and has drawn interest from overseas clubs since his college years. He previously expressed his desire to play in Europe at some point but said he felt Orlando City was the right place for him to continue developing in 2017.

Still, rumors of an overseas move ran rife all year. He did not play in the final two matches of the Lions’ season due to a hip flexor injury, according to the club. He also declined media requests during that time, raising additional questions about his future.

Larin said he was a bit sore when he returned from international duty with Canada ahead of the final home match Oct. 15, which also served as Kaká’s farewell, but wanted to play. Lions coach Jason Kreis said Larin struggled through training and was left off the game-day rosters after failing physical testing.

The Canadian striker said he declined interview requests during that time because he did not want to cause a distraction for the team as it wrapped up the season.

Now, he’s ready to talk about the future.

“I think I’m ready to challenge myself and play at the highest possible level I can,” Larin said. “My contract is ending this season, and I think it’s the right time. I love playing for Orlando. MLS and Orlando have given me a lot, and in the three years I’ve been here, I love playing and I love the fans, but I think to reach my goals it’s necessary to play at the highest level possible with the best players.”

Larin said he hasn’t yet spoken to Kreis or the front office staff about what their vision is for him. The club has made clear many times that any move would have to be good for both the Lions and the Canadian forward.

Orlando City general manager Niki Budalic told the Sentinel Wednesday there are no active negotiations involving Larin and the club has not received an offer for the striker since the close of the European transfer window.

“We’ve always known he’s had a longstanding interest to play abroad, and it’s always been our intention to help him achieve those goals through his development and his progress here,” Budalic said.

“If there’s an opportunity for him to move that he wants to pursue and we receive an acceptable offer from the club, then of course we’ll try to make everyone happy. So, he’s under contract for two more years, but we understand if there’s an opportunity for him to go that we agree with then, yes, I think we’ll definitely help support him.”

That likely means enough money for Orlando City to find an equal or better replacement for its leading scorer — especially when the team struggled offensively this year and finished among the bottom four teams in the league in goals scored with 39.

Bringing in striker Dom Dwyer via trade in July helped, but Dwyer’s future is uncertain as well as he enters a contract option year. He said last week he’s hoping to stay in Orlando, but right now everything “is very much up in the air.”

“I’d like to be at this club, it’s something we’re trying to figure out, but I can’t say I’m so confident at it right now,” Dwyer said Saturday. “I’ll keep training hard and we’ll finish off strong and we’ll see where it goes from there, but I think this one’s out of my hands a little bit.”

Budalic said the club has spoken with Dwyer’s agent several times since he arrived in Orlando and those conversations will continue.

“We also would like him to stay beyond the current term of his contract,” Budalic said.

Other than Kevin Molino, who the club traded to Minnesota for what was at the time a record-breaking $650,000 in allocation money, Cyle Larin is the only player Orlando City has developed professionally during the past three years that could now draw significant transfer funds.

When asked last week about the potential sale of Larin, Kreis said, “I mean, it’s been a talking point now since I’ve gotten here. Every transfer window that opens there’s a lot of speculation about whether or not we’d be willing to sell him, about whether or not there’s teams that are making offers, and I would say most of that has just been that — speculation. And so we go into this offseason the same way, with our ears open but not desperate to make any changes.”

In response to a question about what the team could do with the significant money a Larin transfer could bring, Kreis said he’d prefer not to answer because there are too many variables. He said he feels the Lions already will have plenty of resources to work with in the offseason, likely referring to Kaká’s departure — freeing $7.167 million of guaranteed salary, the league maximum budget charge ($480,625 in 2017) in cap space, an international slot and a designated player spot on the roster.

“It’s far too much speculation for me to even be able to touch that question,” Kreis said. “We believe that there may be some change in the league rules as to what kind of resources we can use, so there’s just so much in the air.”

The club is giving players time off this week and bringing them back leading up to the benefit game against Puerto Rico on Nov. 4. Further discussions about decisions for next season will occur around that time.

Larin said he is unsure whether he will participate in the Puerto Rico friendly, meaning Orlando City fans may have already seen his final minutes in purple.

Larin’s last match was a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas at Orlando City Stadium on Sept. 30. He subbed into the match and played 23 minutes. He closed out 2017 starting 24 of 28 matches played, scoring a team-high 12 goals and tallying three assists.

It was a frustrating year overall for the team, which finished with its worst ranking and points total since joining the league in 2015, and for Larin, who scored 17 goals in his 2015 Rookie of the Year campaign followed by 14 goals in 2016.

He also was suspended for three matches in June after being arrested and charged with DUI. That charge was reduced to reckless driving and he is finishing up the legal process now before heading home to Canada.

Those issues, both team and personal, haven’t slowed the overseas interest for Larin, according to his agent, Costa Smyrniotis, who said MLS received at least five “very, very good” offers from clubs in Europe during the summer transfer window and the same types of offers continue to come.