David Beckham and Gary Neville release 17 players just days after club takeover

Salford City have released 17 players following their failure to make the League Two Play-Offs this season. The news comes by and .

The former pair joined with Declan Kelly, founder of U.S.-based advisory firm Consello, and Lord Mervyn Davies, chairman of the Lawn Tennis Association . Beckham and Neville had previously own the club with the and have bought out the likes of , , and .

Each new member will hold a 5 percent to 10 percent stake in the club, totalling 80 percent, with the additional amount being earmarked for further partners. And the new ownership's first task will be to oversee a squad overhaul for boss Karl Robinson.

Long-serving players Matthew Lund, Conor McAleny, Liam Shephard and Ryan Watson are among those released from the club. A further 13 academy products have been released.

Loanees Stephan Negru (Oxford United), Tyrese Fornah (Derby), Matty Young ( ), Kylian Kouassi (Blackpool), Lewis Warrington (Leyton Orient) and Frankie Okoronkwo ( ) also all returned to their parent clubs.

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New deals have also been offered to Jamie Jones, Curtis Tilt, Tosin Olopade, Hakeeb Adelakun, Alfie Henderson, Jai Curran-Nicholls and Jacob Lara. Meanwhile Ossama Ashley; Haji Mnoga; and Luke Garbutt have all seen contract extensions triggered.

Beckham and Neville have already announced that they have abitious plans. The former star has claimed he will 'be over every big decision that’s made and every little decision that’s made' at the club, and is dreaming of the .

“We’re definitely not doing it for a laugh and it’s also not for the romantic side of things," he said. "Yes, we care about the club — but we’re doing it to win. We want Salford to be successful and we have had success, but then we want it to go on to the next level.

“I always dream big so I’m always going to want us to get to the pinnacle of football and be in the Premier League. But there’s a lot of hard work and a lot of investment to be done up until that point.

“The Championship is a league that we want to get in but it’s step by step. We want success very quickly but these things take time. There’s a reason why we’re not going to be going up this year. So what is that reason? How do we solve it? And what do we need to put around the team, the manager and the club to ensure we have that success?

“But if we can do that, fast forward it and be up in the Championship, that’s what the dream would be.

“We’ve all been inspired by what has been doing at Wrexham and I’m not saying this is why we’re doing it because it’s not. But I’ve spoken to Ryan about it so many times now and he said the feeling around the city, the feeling around the club, is so exceptional. That’s the kind of thing that we want to create."

Salford City released players

Ryan Watson, Matthew Lund, Jon Taylor, Conor McAleny, Jez Davies, Liam Shephard, Marcus Dackers, Callum Morton, James Carr, Ben Collins, Liam Humbles, Sandro Da Costa, Jacob Hamman, Eze Bowen, Matty Cucos, Aiden Lancaster, Kamoy McNair

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