£5m ex-Newcastle United and Aston Villa man released by Championship side after three-game season

Former Newcastle United and Aston Villa defender Ciaran Clark has been released by Stoke City after less than a season with the club. Clark joined Stoke in October after being released by Newcastle United during the summer transfer window.

He had to wait a few weeks for his Potters debut which came at the end of November in a 4-2 defeat against QPR. Clark would start and complete their next two outings, although defeats to fellow relegation strugglers Plymouth Argyle and Sheffield Wednesday saw Alex Neil lose his job and Clark lose his position in the starting XI.

That match against the Owls, played on 9 December, would prove to be Clark’s last appearance for Stoke as he fell out of favour under new boss Steven Schumacher with only a select handful of appearances on the bench as an unused substitute before being left out of Stoke’s matchday squads in their entirety near the end of the campaign.

Clark, who turns 35 in September, will begin his search for a new club alongside fellow released stars Tyrese Campbell and Wesley Moraes. All three have been released by Stoke City.

Clark’s last competitive match for Newcastle United came at Elland Road in January 2022 where he helped the Magpies record just their second win of the season. Clark made 129 appearances in all for the Magpies since joining them from Aston Villa ahead of their 2016/17 Championship campaign. He scored an impressive 11 times for Newcastle and even captained the side on a few occasions under Rafa Benitez.