Kevin Nolan Leaves West Ham United by Mutual Consent

Former Bolton Wanderers captain, and still firmly fan favourite, Kevin Nolan has left West Ham United by mutual consent.

The move comes a little out of left field considering manager Slaven Bilic had all summer to get rid of the club captain, but instead chose to wait until the season was three weeks old - he even started him in West Ham's last match, albeit he didn't last very long.

Nolan was brought to Upton Park by, of course, Sam Allardyce, in 2011. He was instantly named captain and led his team back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, as they beat Blackpool in the Play-Off final thanks to a late winner from another former Wanderer, Ricardo Vaz Te.

As the Hammers regained Premier League status, Nolan helped them reconsolidate in the league, finishing the team's top goal scorer for two season's in a row.

However, even under Allardyce last season his playing time was limited and the writing seems to have been on the wall for Nolan at West Ham for sometime now. So whilst the timing of his departure might be a little surprising, the act its self certainly isn't.

Nolan said to the official West Ham website:

"I¹ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at West Ham United and will take some great memories with me. I¹m now looking forward to the next challenge playing for a new club."

With Nolan now available on a free the rumours of a return to the club where he made his name, er us, may well intensify as they have already been circulating quite a bit this summer.

However, I'd really advise against getting your hopes up, fellow disheartened Wanderer. With the unsettling rumblings coming out of the club this week and the latest batch of financial news that has come out this morning, I doubt we could even afford Nolan midriff.