Preston North End announces mass clear-out of players

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Preston North End has announced a large overhaul of playing staff Credit: Preston North End FC

The statement reads:

Preston North End’s summer change programme has commenced with the announcement of the player retained list.

Out of contract players, Andreas Arestidou, Aaron Brown, Michael McLellan, Daniel Devine, Scott Leather, David Gray, George Miller, Dominic Comrie, Seanan Clucas, Ian Ashbee, Iain Turner, Jamie Douglas, Alex Billington and Nicky Hunt will be leaving the Club.

Neil Mellor, who is also out of contract, has sadly announced his retirement from the game due to injury.

A number of players who still have one year to go on their contracts have been informed that they will be made available for transfer: Bailey Wright, Barry Nicholson, Brian McLean, Juvhel Tsoumou, Keammar Daley, Conor McLaughlin and Darel Russell.

Loan players Rhys Murphy, Chuks Aneke and Max Ehmer have all returned to their parent clubs following the end of their temporary stays at Deepdale.

Jamie Proctor and Danny Mayor have informed the Club that they would wish to move on to play at a higher level if the opportunity arises. At the time of writing there has been no interest from other clubs in either of these players and both remain contracted players.

Paul Parry and Luke Clark are currently in discussions with the Club regarding their future.

Iain Hume and Paul Coutts are both contracted to the Club next season. There has been speculation regarding offers being made for their services. Again at the time of writing no offers have been received for either player.

Thorsten Stuckmann, Chris Robertson, Craig Morgan, Andy Procter, Chris Holroyd, Graham Cummins, Will Hayhurst and Adam Barton are contracted players who at this time remain under contract with the Club.

Andy Procter who assisted the Club on his arrival by wearing the ‘captain’s armband’ has as expected relinquished this additional responsibility. We are extremely grateful to Andy for his having agreed to take on this short term role upon his arrival last season.

Following the above announcement and looking to the future, chairman of football, Peter Ridsdale said: “Team building for next season is well under way with a number of players already having agreed to join us. As and when we are able, we will be making announcements regarding our new signings.

"After a disappointing season we are excited about the opportunity to build a squad capable of taking us back to the Championship. At a time of such change we would like to thank all those players who are leaving us and at the same time welcome all the incoming players to Deepdale.

"We sincerely hope that all of our supporters will see this as a good time to reinvest their faith in the Club and remember that our offer to become a PNE Ambassador remains open until 31st May 2012.”