Birmingham City have released six first-team players at the end of their contracts, including captain Troy Deeney and former skipper Harlee Dean. Deeney, who joined the Blues from Watford in 2021, had been offered a new deal in March but will depart St Andrew’s after two seasons. Dean, who had been transfer listed by the club under former head coach Lee Bowyer in December 2021, has also left after 16 appearances this season. Maxime Colin, George Friend, Jordan Graham and Kevin Long are the other players to depart. The Championship club have also taken up options to extend the contracts of Oliver Basey, Rico Browne, Tate Campbell, Tommy Fogarty, Nico Gordon, Marcel Oakley and Kieran Wakefield. Krystian Bielik, Hannibal Mejbri, Reda Khadra, Dion Sanderson, Auston Trusty have all returned to their parent clubs following loan spells. These departures come before the expected approval of American financier Tom Wagner’s purchase of a 45.64% stake in the club by the English Football League and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Earlier this month, the club were given a suspended two-point deduction by the EFL for rule breaches during an unsuccessful takeover bid. The penalty is suspended until the end of the 2023-24 season.