Trio of experienced senior exits as West Brom confirm retained and released list
Albion trio Semi Ajayi, Grady Diangana and John Swift will exit the club at the expiration of their contracts this summer.
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Their expected departures have been confirmed by the Baggies in their end-of-season retained and released squad list.
Centre-back Ajayi, 31, winger Diangana, 27, and attacking midfielder Swift, who is 30 next month, total 505 appearances for the club.
But all three have struggled to hold down a regular place and consistently influence things in recent years and the club have opted against renewing terms.
The decisions come as owners Bilkul, in their second summer at the helm, continues their overhaul of a squad who toiled at the end of the season and fell out of Championship play-off contention.
Shilen Patel's ownership group are also looking to further bring down the squad's average age, which was the oldest in the second tier upon their February 2024 takeover. The owners also remain in the process of appointing their second head coach at The Hawthorns, to succeed Tony Mowbray.
Nigeria international defender Ajayi and DR Congo attacker Diangana are both popular among supporters and have a Hawthorns promotion under their belts from the 2019/20 campaign.
Ajayi proved to be a bargain purchase for the club at just £900,000 from Rotherham, delivering six years of service and a little shy of 200 appearances, with 177 in all.
His final season was marred by two hamstring setbacks but he still clocked up 15 appearances and was a big presence in the bright form to start the season. Ajayi played in an African Cup of Nations final while with the Baggies.
Diangana arrived at The Hawthorns in the same summer of 2019, initially on a loan deal from West Ham, where he had came through the ranks.
He played a pivotal role in the promotion-winning campaign under Slaven Bilic and became an instant favourite among fans after eight goals in 35 outings. Albion parted with £18million to bring him to the club permanently in 2020.
The attacker has mostly played wide and on occasion in central areas but has struggled to recreate the consistent form of his initial loan season.
He still exits a firm favourite among large parts of the fanbase having netted 26 goals for the Baggies and provided no shortage of assists. He enjoyed a renaissance as an attacking midfielder under Carlos Corberan in 2023/24 and delivered seven goals and eight assists, his best goal involvement return. Towards the end of this season he marked 200 Albion appearances and exits on 202.
There has been no shortage of interest in Diangana through his time at the club but he leaves as a free agent with the potential of a move abroad.
Swift joined Albion as a free transfer on a three-year deal in 2022 and exits at the end of that contract after 126 appearances, 81 of them starts.
The former Reading man enjoyed a bright start to life at the club but, after an injury curtailed a bright start to his second season, struggled to make his mark.
He exits after being left out of the final few matchday squads after some supporters voiced discontent. He netted 19 times for the club in all, including three strikes in Mowbray's short reign, but could not find consistent form.
Meanwhile, ten young Baggies have been offered new terms and others have been released. See the full run through on the youngsters here.
