Former Sheffield United wonderkid becomes a free agent

The Welsh side announced Naughton’s departure as part of their end of season restructuring exercise, bringing to an end his eight year stay at the Swansea.com Stadium. Now aged 34, Naughton made 52 appearances for United after progressing through their youth system, going on to join Tottenham Hotspur as part of a deal which also took fellow Randox Health Academy graduate Kyle Walker to north London.

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Russell Martin, who could himself be leaving City this summer after being linked with Southampton, admitted he would have preferred to keep Naughton but a restructuring exercise behind the scenes made that impossible.

Confirming Ryan Madding and Joel Latibeaudiere are also moving on, Martin said: “I’d have loved to have kept all three but we’re not at that point at the moment. It’ll be really sad to lose one of them, let alone all of them.”

Walker, who now represents England and Manchester City, was actually viewed as the makeweight in the deal which saw both him and Naughton join Spurs. However, the latter was eventually sold to Swansea for a fee believed to be in the region of £5m. Walker has spoken of his desire to finish his career with United, despite emerging as a pivotal figure in Pep Guardiola’s treble-chasing squad. Naughton amassed over 50 appearances for United, who gained promotion back to the top-flight last term. Another ex-United player, Paul Coutts, was last night confirmed as being set for the exit door at Bristol Rovers.

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