Colchester United have cancelled the contract of French flop Jo�l Thomas.

COLCHESTER United have cancelled the contract of French flop Jo�l Thomas.

The 23-year-old striker was purchased from Scottish side Hamilton Academical for a reported fee of �125,000 by former manager Paul Lambert last summer.

The transfer had originally been set up as a double deal which would also include fellow striker Richard Offiong, however the latter pulled out of the move at the last minute instead choosing to sign for Carlisle United.

The aforementioned nature of the deal meant there was some question mark over whether the Essex club had paid the true value for Thomas.

And those questions still remain after Thomas – who came to the U’s having scored just once in Scottish football – has now left the club after making just seven late substitute appearances in his single season at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Aidy Boothroyd eventually loaned him back to Hamilton at the back end of the campaign just gone and he scored there goals in 11 Scottish Premier League appearances, however, the writing was on the wall when new U’s boss John Ward did not invite him to be in the club’s squad photo last week.

“Jo�l missed the first day of pre-season training and, when he turned up on the second day, he told me four times that he wanted to leave the club,” said Ward.

“We were happy to discuss that, as long as it was on our terms, and I informed the chairman about the situation.

“We quickly agreed that Jo�l’s impending departure – as well as that of Clive Platt – will free up wages for him to operate in the transfer market to bolster his striking ranks.”

The U’s, who have also released Scott Vernon this summer and failed to get last season’s top scorer Kevin Lisbie back in on loan, now have just two recognised strikers in their first team squad in the form of Kayode Odejayi and Steven Gillespie.