Manchester City have confirmed four senior stars have left the club.

Danny Mills, Darius Vassell, Dietmar Hamann and Michael Ball were not offered new contracts by manager Mark Hughes and are now free to take up other offers.

In none of the instances is the news a surprise.

Mills has not been part of the first-team scene for well over 12 months, while Vassell and Hamann's final year at Eastlands has been blighted by injury.

And, while Michael Ball was a regular under Hughes for the first part of last term, the former Everton star lost his place following the arrival of Wayne Bridge from Chelsea.

They join Chelsea-bound Daniel Sturridge in heading for the exit door, along with Glauber Berti, who was a frequent member of the substitutes' bench but did not actually come on until the final game of the season against Bolton.