West Bromwich Albion director of football administration Richard Garlick has revealed that the club sanctioned the sale of Joleon Lescott because they wanted to reduce the average age of the defence.

The 33-year-old centre-back was sold to West Midlands rivals Aston Villa on the final day of the transfer window for a fee believed to be in the region of £2m.

Garlick has reiterated that, with head coach Tony Pulis adding Jonny Evans and James Chester to the squad over the summer, Lescott's exit was justified.

"I hear what you say about him being Player of the Year and he was great for us for that year, but I think Tony wanted to try and bring in younger players," Garlick is quoted as saying by the Birmingham Mail.

"He wanted to bring in James Chester, Jonny Evans, younger players. We were worried about the age of that backline with Joleon, Gareth [McAuley] and Jonas [Olsson] and I think it was a good deal for everyone."

Lescott joined West Brom from Manchester City last summer.