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Ross McCormack and Micah Richards could be released by Aston Villa, according to reports.

The Mirror reports that manager Steve Bruce has asked Villa's new owners to explore the possibility of releasing McCormack and Richards from their contracts.

Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens bought a majority stake in Villa in July and Bruce hopes they can resolve the futures of the club's unwanted players.

McCormack, 31, hasn’t played a Championship match for Villa since the 1-0 defeat to Wolves on January 14, 2017.

Reports from the North East claim long-time suitors Sunderland are no longer interested.

Bruce has previously tried to reintegrate McCormack into his squad following their infamous bust-up 18 months ago with the Scot given a chance to impress prior to the beginning of last season.

However, Bruce decided last summer that McCormack has no future at Villa Park and packed the striker off to Australia for a loan stint with A-League outfit Melbourne City.

He made a couple of cameos off the bench in the Carabao Cup last season as Bruce rested his first XI but hasn't been given any further opportunites.

Those charged with balancing the books at B6 have been exploring ways to get McCormack off the books. The striker has two years remaining on the lucrative four-year deal he signed at Villa.

Richards, 30, last made a competitive appearance for Villa in October 2016 and is contracted to the club until the summer of 2019.

The defender has only ever played once under Bruce because of persistent knee problems - and that was the manager's first game in charge, the 1-1 draw against Wolves in October 2016.

Richards is one of the club's highest earners after arriving to captain the side in the disastrous 2015/16 Premier League campaign.

He was included in Villa’s squad for last season's September’s 2-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Middlesbrough and that remains supporters’ only sighting of him for some time.

In the final year of his contract, Richards has become a peripheral figure at Bodymoor Heath.

Both players were omitted from this season's squad list.

Meanwhile, Yannick Bolasie is being targeted by Villa as an option before the end of the month, according to reports.

The Everton winger was the subject of interest from a number of sides before the regular transfer window closed on Thursday evening, including former club Crystal Palace and Villa’s Championship rivals Middlesbrough.

Indeed Boro are expected to reignite their interest in Bolasie with the loan window still rumbling on as they search for a replacement for Adama Traore, but the Daily Star reckon that Villa could rival them.

Bruce is likely to be active in the final few weeks of August after missing out on left-back Joe Bryan of Bristol City - he headed to Fulham - and John McGinn was the only new arrival that wasn’t a goalkeeper.

Out wide could be an area that gets some attention; Andre Green and Ahmed Elmohamady started on the flanks in the win over Wigan, while Albert Adomah began the afternoon on the bench.

Bolasie appears to have little or no future at Goodison Park. He was left out of the squad that drew 2-2 at Wolves on Saturday.

The 29-year-old, who was signed for around £25m from Palace in the summer of 2016 by Ronald Koeman, has missed almost a year of football through injury.