Stan Collymore has predicted that it would have cost Aston Villa “£3million or thereabouts” to get striker Ross McCormack off the books.
Villa confirmed in a statement published on the club’s website on Monday evening that McCormack had been released from his contract despite having a year left to run.
The 32-year-old signed for Villa from Fulham in 2016 and has scored just three times in 20 league appearances, while his release comes almost two years after he last played for the club.
Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Collymore also said that the decision to let go of McCormack, however, would likely have been cheaper than letting the forward see out his deal.
“In layman’s terms, he was paid up to go,” the ex-Villan said. “Less than the sum of the remainder of his contract, more than Villa would want to pay.
“But the club have now so decided to pay him off. Estimate? I’d calculate £3m or thereabouts.”
OPINION
It was definitely the right move from Villa to let McCormack go. If there was ever a player that defined deadwood at a club, the 32-year-old is the perfect example. Since signing in the summer of 2016, he has been sent out on four loans – to Nottingham Forest, Melbourne City, Central Coast Mariners and most recently Motherwell – and it has to go down as one of the worst investments in recent times, not least because in the time that he actually played for Villa, he only scored three times in 20 league games. But it is good that Villa have now got rid of McCormack, and he has become the ninth player to be released by the club since their return to the Premier League was confirmed with a 2-1 win over Derby County at Wembley. The club are not messing around, and there is no doubt that Dean Smith’s side are preparing themselves well for their first season back in the top flight.