A FORMER Manchester United defender has been released by League One Derby County after the club missed out on promotion.
James Chester joined the Red Devils’ academy aged eight and quickly rose through the ranks into the first-team squad.
After winning the 2007 FA Youth Cup, he then made his senior debut in the League Cup.
He replaced Gary Neville off the bench to help United defeat Derby 4-2 in a match that Cristiano Ronaldo scored in.
Loan spells at Peterborough, Plymouth and Carlisle followed before he was sold to Hull City in 2011, where he helped The Tigers reach and scored in their 2014 FA Cup Final defeat to Arsenal.
A switch to West Brom followed before he then headed to rivals Aston Villa and Stoke City before he eventually ended up at Derby last summer after being released by Stoke.
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Now the centre-half, who helped Wales reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016, is looking for another new club.
The Rams missed out on the League One play-offs by a point this season and have released a number of players as a result along with the 34-year-old Chester.
Meanwhile, another former United starlet is also on the look-out for a new employer.
Full-back Regan Poole, who appeared for the Red Devils in the Europa League before leaving to join MK Dons in 2019 has rejected a new deal at Lincoln City.
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They finished 11th in League One, but despite making 56 appearances this term, Poole is hoping to make a step-up in the EFL.
Lincoln director of football Jez George said: “He wants to explore options at a higher level and we fully respect that.”
These two announcements come after Nick Powell was released by Stoke.
The forward, 29, was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson in 2012 in a deal worth up to £6million.
And he featured six times in Fergie’s final season in charge of the Red Devils.
But over the course of the following three years he played just three games for Man Utd as he was farmed out on loan to Wigan, Leicester and Hull.
He left Old Trafford on a free transfer in 2016 and signed a permanent deal with Wigan – who were in the second tier at the time but suffered relegation down to League One the following year.
After helping The Latics return to the Championship, he joined Stoke in 2019 and would rack up 119 appearances for the club.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
