Former Albion midfielder Liam Bridcutt admits he never wanted to leave the club.

The 31-year-old spent four years at the Amex before moving to Sunderland to re-unite with former Seagulls boss, Gus Poyet.

Prior to the move he had put in a transfer request which was rejected by Albion.

Bridcutt, who now plays for League One side Lincoln, revealed he was happy to stay.

Speaking to Football, the Albion and Me podcast, he said: “I had a few other clubs that were interested in me not just Sunderland.

“Not at any point did I want to leave, I had a good relationship with Gus and knew where he was going, but there wasn’t a point where I wanted to leave because I was happy.

“It’s a club I called home with my youngest being born there and it was where I kickstarted my career.

“I didn’t want to leave the club I was very much happy there, but at the time I had other offers.

“The club knew about this and were back and forth with other clubs and turned down lots of offers. There were a few clubs in the Premier League and the Championship that were in for me.

“All I wanted was to be rewarded for the time I had given to the club and what I wanted to do with the club and they had the same ambition, regardless of Gus going, they wanted to get to the Premier League and I wanted to be a massive part of that.

“But I wanted to be rewarded it was not so much I wanted to feel needed, but because they had so many good offers, they didn’t try to keep me.

To listen to the full episode visit https://anchor.fm/footballthealbionandme or search for Football, the Albion and Me wherever you listen to your podcasts.