Aston Villa have decided to release three members of their first-team squad after deciding not to offer the new contracts.
Aston Villa recently revealed on their website that former England striker Emile Heskey, Carlos Cuellar, and Brad Guzan will be the players leaving the club once their contract expires next month.
The 34-year-old Emile Heskey was signed by former Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill back in 2009. However, he has failed to live up to the expectations and will now be allowed to search for a new club after the end of this month. It is not a surprise decision given that the former Liverpool striker said a few weeks back that he expects his Aston Villa departure sooner rather than later.
Former Rangers defender Carlos Cuellar was also one of the players signed by former manager Martin O'Neill from Scottish club Rangers. The Spaniard, though, has revealed that he wants to continue playing in England rather than returning to Spain. Goalkeeper Brad Guzan has been part of the first team for a few seasons now, but the arrival of Shay Given has limited his first-team opportunities. It will be a season of changes at Aston Villa with the arrival of a new manager expected to be imminent. They have been linked with Norwich city manager Paul Lambert.
"There's a possibility that might happen. I'm not going to turn anything down. I haven't got a club to be honest. There are no contract talks so I'll be looking elsewhere. We got to the Carling Cup final and an FA Cup semi-final [at Villa]. So it's good memories. It gave me the chance [to play] at Wembley again, so I can't complain. It has been difficult, missing Darren Bent, which has been a big thing for us, and also missing our captain Stan Petrov," said Heskey.