Cardiff City have announced a glut of senior stars are leaving the club.
The Bluebirds have issued their retained list to the Football League and it shows eight first-teamers are not being offered contracts.
The eight heading out of the exit door include centre-back Aden Flint, who has captained the team on a number of occasions, and Wales midfielder Will Vaulks.
Others who featured regularly under Mick McCarthy earlier in the campaign, but who are also leaving, are Leandro Bacuna, Alex Smithies, Marlon Pack and Ciaron Brown.
Also going are a couple of by and large forgotten men, £11m signing Josh Murphy who disappointingly failed to hit the heights after his record transfer, and injury-plagued striker Isaac Vassell.
The departure of those eight has been speculated for a while, although some Cardiff fans were hoping new deals could at least be struck with Vaulks, Flint and Smithies.
However, with their contracts finishing on June 30, they will each formally depart the club.
Joe Ralls, who skippered the team under Steve Morison towards the back end of the season, has been offered new terms. It remains to be seen whether he accepts those, or chooses to move on.
The situation with regular captain Sean Morrison is a little more muddied, with Cardiff saying he "will continue his rehabilitation from injury with the Bluebirds."
Cardiff clearly feel they have a duty of care towards a player who has been such a great servant down the years as he battles back from knee surgery. It seems a short term package has been offered to Morrison, but whether he gets a permanent new contract beyond that is open to doubt.
Cardiff youngsters George Ratcliffe, Caleb Hughes, Jac Clay, James Crole and Aidan MacNamara have also been offered contracts.
The Bluebirds hierarchy were keen to trim the wage bill significantly and the senior stars departing will greatly help to that end.
Some of the players going were major disappointments and Cardiff feel the money that has gone on their wages can be put to better use next season as Steve Morison completely rebuilds the squad.
Others, like goalkeeper Smithies, will prove a huge loss, but Cardiff's new wage structure means they couldn't afford to keep one of the best goalkeepers outside of the Premier League.
Morison has already signed five new players this summer as he plans for the 2022-23 campaign and there are lots more still to come. As many as 15 new players could arrive in what would be a far more fit for purpose squad come the Championship kick-off.
The biggest capture of the lot, of course, would be Gareth Bale, with Cardiff having high hopes they can land the Wales captain. His arrival, if the Bluebirds can get a deal over the line, could spark a flurry of other big names coming in and certainly change the dynamic of the side, with the current captures under Morison rather more unheralded names.
Others on Cardiff's retained list could yet be leaving the club if Morison feels he can get the right offers for certain players as movements in and out continue.
Bluebirds retained list in full
First Team
Rohan Luthra, DIllon Phillips, Perry Ng, Mark McGuinness, Curtis Nelson, Oliver Denham, Joel Bagan, Jai Semenyo, Eli King, Tom Sang, Ryan Wintle, Gavin Whyte, Rubin Colwill, Isaak Davies, Kieron Evans, Mark Harris, James Collins, Max Watters, Chanka Zimba.
Under 23s
Cian Ashford, James Connolly, Tom Davies, Taylor Jones, Ryan Kavanagh, Jack Leahy, Owen Pritchard, Matthew Turner.
Departing U23s
Ibrahim Bakare, Tavio Almeida, Siyabonga Ligendza, Ntazana Mayembe, Keenan Patten.
Retained scholars
Joel Colwill, Adam Coomer, Jacob Denis, Isaac Jefferies, Callum Jones, Tana Jones, Joseph Keeping, Kyle Kenniford, Morgan Lewis, Lewys Ware, Morgan Wigley.
Departing scholars
Benjamin Coley, Joshua Rippon, Rhys Schwank.
Cardiff said: "We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the departing players and scholars for their contributions."
