Forgotten man Joel Thomas has left the U's after it was mutually agreed to terminate his contract.

The Frenchman, who was signed from Hamilton Academical by Paul Lambert last summer for a fee believed to be £125,000, made just seven substitute appearances in his 12 months at the club.

The 23-year-old was loaned back to the Accies for the second half of last season, having failed to impress then U's boss Aidy Boothroyd, and upon returning to the U's this summer requested to be released from his contract.

John Ward confirmed on the club's website: "Joel missed the first day of pre-season training and, when he turned up on the second day, he told me four times that he wanted to leave the club.

"We were happy to discuss that, as long as it was on our terms, and I informed the chairman about the situation.

"We quickly agreed that it would be the right thing for the club, if he didn't want to be here and agreed to cancel the contract and, as I said before, very much on the club's terms."

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