Swansea City have confirmed this morning the departure of Andre Ayew from the club following the expiration of his contract but have also offered a new one year deal to long serving Wayne Routledge despite the injury he suffered in the play off win over Barnsley.
Ayew departs the Liberty for the second time having been top scorer last season as we reached the play off final but ultimately this was an anticipated move given his high wages and the Swans would have happily offloaded him in previous transfer windows had the opportunity presented itself.
Routledge though has earned himself a new deal and is set to extend his Liberty Stadium stay to an 11th year despite facing an injury that is unlikely to see him return until 2022.
Also released from the club (with no surprises) are Kieron Freeman, Declan John and Barrie McKay.
The club have also confirmed the following via the official website “Second-year scholars Scott Butler and Michael Murphy have been offered their first professional contracts following their performances for the under-23 and under-18 sides in recent seasons.
“Butler has captained the under-18s throughout the recent campaign, and has featured for the under-23s on several occasions.
“Murphy, who has progressed through the club’s academy ranks, was a regular in the under-18 side as well as stepping up to the under-23 squad during the past season.
“Ali Al-Hamadi, Jacob Jones and Jamie Searle have all been offered fresh terms.
“In addition, six academy players – Geoff Bony, Josh Carey, Joel Cotterill, Ben Lloyd, Jada Mawongo and Evan Watts – have been offered two-year scholarships with the club.
“In the academy ranks Ryan Bevan, Matthew Blake, Bradley Gibbings, Jordi Govea, Alex Rutter and Jake Thomas have all left the club.”
Retained: Adrian Akande, Steven Benda, Ryan Bennett, Jake Bidwell, George Byers, Ben Cabango, Rio Campbell, Brandon Cooper, Ollie Cooper, Liam Cullen, Yan Dhanda, Cameron Evans, Jay Fulton, Jordon Garrick, Josh Gould, Matt Grimes, Ben Hamer, Harry Jones, Joel Latibeaudiere, Jamal Lowe, Ryan Manning, Lincoln McFayden, Kyle Naughton, Connor Roberts, Tivonge Rushesha, Korey Smith, Josh Thomas, Lewis Webb, Morgan Whittaker, Daniel Williams.