Chris Ashton, the former England wing, has left Worcester Warriors with immediate effect, the club announced on Monday.

Ashton, 34, last played for Worcester in the Premiership back in March and has struggled with knee and calf issues this season, while he received a six-game suspension last season following a red card against Northampton. Worcester also said that “the daily commute from his home in Northampton had also proved challenging”.

Ashton joined Worcester, his fifth Premiership club, from Harlequins 11 months ago after Quins agreed to release him early from his contract.

Prior to joining Harlequins he was released from his contract with Sale Sharks in March 2020, admitting later that he didn’t have the relationship he had hoped for with Steve Diamond, then Sale’s director of rugby. 

Diamond joined Worcester last month as lead rugby consultant, working alongside head coach Jonathan Thomas and director of rugby Alan Solomons, and spoke openly about Ashton’s departure from Sale at the time, suggesting the two had disagreed “on how we want to play the game”. 

Ashton was last capped by England during the 2019 Six Nations and has scored 20 tries in 44 caps for his country. 

He returned to the Premiership with Sale following a sensational spell in France with three-time European champions Toulon. Ashton broke the single-season Top 14 try-scoring record in 2017-18, with 24 tries in 23 matches.

Despite his limited appearances recently for Harlequins and Worcester, Ashton is the third-highest Premiership try scorer of all time, sitting on 89 and only three behind all-time leader Tom Varndell.