Owen Windsor, who spent a short spell on loan with Carlisle United, has been released by parent club West Bromwich Albion.
The 20-year-old Windsor was brought in during the January transfer window by former manager Keith Millen and played three games for the Blue, with one goal.
But Windsor didn’t feature under Paul Simpson when the former United boss returned to Brunton Park and revitalised the team.
Simpson has been explaining what happened to the youngster whose form at Cirencester as a precocious 17-year-old warranted a contract from West Brom and subsequent loan moves to Grimsby, Newport and Carlisle.
Simpson said: “It didn’t work out here. He didn’t show enough for me to make me put him into the group.
“One of the early things that happened in my time back at the football club was that he was informed by West Brom that he wasn’t going to get a new contract there and it threw him properly. He wasn’t in a great way about it.
“He decided that he needed to go back to West Brom, to train with them, and give himself a chance of going and playing.
“I tried to explain to him that it wouldn’t help him because he was our loan player and he wouldn’t be able to play for anybody else. He was only allowed to play for us.
“He made that decision. I’m not going to fight to keep a player who doesn’t want to be here, so I agreed for him to go back and be part of West Brom.
“I wish him all the best and I’m just disappointed it didn’t work out for him.”
He had been a youth player at Swindon and Southampton before joining Cirencester in the Southern League. Six goals in 17 games brought him to the attention of West Brom and he signed in June 2019.
Both his previous loan spells at Grimsby and Newport had been cut short.