Cardiff City striker Rickie Lambert has today left the Championship club after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Bluebirds manager Neil Warnock stated that the experienced striker would struggle for game time at the club next season with both Kenneth Zohore and Danny Ward ahead of him in the pecking order.

Warnock has therefore allowed Lambert to leave the club and seek first-team football elsewhere ahead of next season.

An impressive career for Lambert

The 35-year-old has enjoyed a distinguished career at club level and has played for the likes of Blackpool, Macclesfield Town, Stockport County, Rochdale, Bristol Rovers, Southampton, Liverpool, West Bromwich Albion and most recently Cardiff.

The striker made a name for himself during his time at Bristol Rovers during a three-year spell between 2006 and 2009. During his time at the Memorial Stadium, he made 128 appearances for the club and scored 51 goals. This led to him making a £1 million move to recently relegated Southampton who found themselves in League One at the time.

He had a very successful five-year spell at St Mary's as he was part of the club's dramatic rise from League One all the way to the Premier League. In total, he made 207 appearances for the club and found the back of the net a whopping 106 times as he became a Saints legend.

Following his successful spell at Southampton, in which he proved himself as a top flight striker, he earned his dream move to boyhood club Liverpool.

He signed a two-year deal as he cost the Reds a fee of £4 million plus add-ons. However, his time at Anfield was not the best as he only made 25 appearances, scoring just twice.

He decided to move on in July 2015, as he joined West Bromwich Albion for a fee of around £3 million. Lambert was disappointed to have not made the cut at Liverpool but was given a chance to continue his spell in the top flight by Baggies manager Tony Pulis.

Despite this, he never really found his form at the Hawthorns and only made 20 appearances, scoring just once.

The highlight of Lambert's career will have no doubt been representing his country on the international stage. He has made 11 appearances for England in total and found the back of the net three times. He will be remembered by many for scoring with his first touch on his debut against Scotland to ensure a 3-2 victory for his country.

What next for Lambert?

Lambert did decide to finally make the drop back down from the top flight in 2016 as he joined Cardiff City in the Championship on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

He made 18 appearances for the club in total and scored four goals during this time. However, his time at the club was significantly hampered by a horrific leg injury he suffered against Nottingham Forest soon after joining.

The experienced frontman has since been allowed to leave Cardiff and is now looking for the tenth club of his career. Since this news has broken, Lambert has been linked with a number of different clubs including Blackburn Rovers and Plymouth Argyle.

A move to Ewood Park to join Blackburn looks most likely, which would see Lambert reunite with Peter Whittingham who also made the same move this summer. Tony Mowbray has stated his intent to get Rovers back to The Championship at the first time of asking and has already spent significantly this summer.

The likes of Whittingham, Bradley Dack, Kyle Connell, Callum Dolan, Ben Gladwin and Richie Smallwood have already joined the club this summer. Mowbray is said to be still looking to secure the services of a striker and Lambert would be an astute addition who still has the ability to score goals at that level.

Plymouth are also said to be interested in the striker mainly due to the fact they are short in that area with only Ryan Taylor and Nathan Blissett on their books ahead of next season in that position. However, the League Two club are going to struggle to compete with Rovers on wages and will therefore have to look at other options.

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About the author
Sam Straw
VAVEL Championship Editor. Journalism Student at The University of Sheffield. Nottingham Forest Season-Ticket Holder. Contributing to VAVEL UK since October 2016.