Aston Villa have offered a new contract to defender Ron Vlaar but released Darren Bent and Dubliners Enda Stevens and Graham Burke.
Vlaar's current deal expires at the end of the month and boss Tim Sherwood has previously underlined his desire to keep him at Villa Park.
Vlaar admitted after Villa's FA Cup semi-final win over Liverpool in April that Sherwood's appointment as manager had changed things for him at the club and he was considering staying.
The Netherlands international had previously been expected to leave the club he joined from Feyenoord in 2012.
Sherwood had shelved any contract talks with Vlaar until Villa had secured their Barclays Premier League future, with the club eventually finishing 17th.
Vlaar, 30, has made 88 appearances for Villa and captained the side before being replaced as skipper by Fabian Delph this season.
Southampton were interested in Vlaar last year after he excelled in the Netherlands' run to the World Cup semi-final, where they lost to Argentina in a penalty shoot-out with Vlaar missing from the spot.
Villa also confirmed the exit of £24million record signing Bent, who has joined Derby on a two-year deal.
Bent was released after scoring 25 goals in 72 appearances following a club record transfer from Sunderland in 2011.
He fell out of favour with former manager Paul Lambert and spent time on loan at Brighton and Derby last season, scoring 12 goals in 13 starts for the Rams as they missed out on the Sky Bet Championship play-offs.
New Derby head coach Paul Clement shared the club's interest in bringing Bent back to the iPro Stadium as he looks to win promotion at the first time of asking in his first managerial role.
"Darren Bent is a proven goalscorer and that was something he proved during his loan spell with the club last season," Clement told the club's official website, www.dcfc.co.uk.
"He is going to be key in our plans to move forward."
Stevens made just seven Premier League appearances for Villa in over three years at the club after signing from Shamrock Rovers.
The defender has spent loan spells at Notts County, Doncaster Rovers and Northampton Town in recent seasons.
Burke was restricted to just two appearances in all competitions for Villa.
