Former Germany captain Michael Ballack has failed to live up to expectations in his second spell at Bayer Leverkusen, club chief Wolfgang Holzhaeuser says.

“We have reached the point where we have to admit that what we had in mind 20 months ago has not come about,” Holzhaeuser told Friday’s Express newspaper in Cologne.

Holzhaeuser expressed annoyance with Ballack’s reaction on being substituted after an hour against Mainz on Sunday.

The 35-year-old midfielder left the field shaking his head.

Ballack’s reaction appeared to have the crowd also reacting negatively to the substitution in a match Leverkusen won 3-2.

“Ballack’s behaviour has disappointed me. Too little has come from him,” Holzhaeuser said.