£10m former West Brom and Newcastle striker released by League One side as ex-Aston Villa midfielder also

Three months after coming to Pride Park on a temporary contract, former West Brom striker Dwight Gale was let go by Derby County.

The former £10 million frontman will not be part of Rams manager Paul Warne’s plans as he gets ready for Derby to return to the Championship.

The 34-year-old Gayle is one of six players that the League One runners-up have let go, and former Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane will also be leaving Pride Park when his contract expires. On the retained list Derby released on Saturday are goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith, midfielder Korey Smith, attacker Martyn Waghorn, and goalkeeper Scott Loach.

Following his exit from Villa in 2022, Hourihane has played for Pride for the last two seasons. In that span, the 33-year-old made 98 appearances and scored 12 goals for the Rams. This season, the Irishman participated in 47 games in all competitions and helped Warne regain their place in the Championship, trailing only League One winners Portsmouth.

In 2017, the midfielder joined Villa for an unknown sum from Barnsley and made over 160 appearances. Before going on loan to Swansea and Sheffield United, he assisted the Villans in their play-off victory in 2019 and returned to the Premier League.

Gayle joined the Rams on a free transfer from Stoke in February and scored three goals in six games. But a hamstring injury kept him out of Derby’s final seven games of the campaign.

The striker scored 23 Championship goals for the Baggies in the 2018–19 season while on loan from Newcastle. This meant that despite WBA finishing fourth and losing to Villa in the play-offs, he ended that season as the team’s leading scorer.

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