Duo leave Cobblers

Akinfenwa: Moving on

Adebayo Akinfenwa and Andy Holt have left Northampton Town after rejecting offers to extend their stay.

The Cobblers had a deal on the table for Akinfenwa, 28, for some time and set him a deadline of this week to decide.

Adebayor was a fans' favourite during his time with Northampton - scoring 39 goals in 82 starts for the club.

Manager Ian Sampson felt Town offered the striker an attractive offer, but believes he is now looking to test himself at a higher level.

Move on

"We wanted to reach a quick decision and now we have one and so we move on," Sampson told the club's official website.

"Bayo and his agent are obviously talking to other clubs and asked for more time and you can understand that, but from a Northampton Town point of view the contract has been on the table a while now and we cannot afford to wait any longer.

"I don't think anyone will begrudge Bayo the chance to play at a higher level and we wish him well.

"It has been a very good partnership between the club and Bayo over the last two and a half years. He has done well for us and we have got his career moving again. It has worked out well for both parties.

"We made him a very good offer but he wants to play at the highest level he can so we wish him well wherever the future may take him and now we look forward.

"A decisive decision has been made and now we will step up our bid to land our other targets. We move on."

Akinfenwa has joined Holt in leaving the club after the 32-year-old utility man rejected their two-year offer.

"We made the offer to Andy but he said no so we have to move on to our other targets," Sampson continued.