Full back Phil Bardsley could get dismissed going by comments attributed to Stoke City manager Mark Hughes.
Hughes said he is committed at reducing the average age of the squad. This means Bardsley, defender Glen Johnson and midfielder Charlie Adam could get booted out as they are all at least 31 years old.
“We’ve talked with most of them. With Glen, it’s down to game time and he could trigger an option himself by playing, so that’s still on track. Phil we’ve had discussion with, and Charlie has obviously intimated he would like to stay,” the boss said.
Adam and Bardsley are both of the longest-serving stars in the set-up but they might not remain with the team for long. Hughes added that he would work towards maintaining a balance in the team as he would not want to lose all the experienced legs.
“We’ve got a group of predominantly senor players and that’s okay, but when everybody is fit and well, it becomes more difficult to keep everybody happy. So we will be carrying less senior players next year and see where that takes us,” the manager added.
Bardsley faces an uncertain future. He was not selected for the games against Canada and Slovenia by Gordon Strachan. He received a red card in the game against Chelsea. His deal with Stoke is set to lapse at the end of the season, and there would likely not be a new deal.
Stoke have Leicester City, Burnley and Liverpool in forthcoming games as they try to consolidate on their top half finish this term.