diff --git a/.github/workflows/ansible-test-plugins.yml b/.github/workflows/ansible-test-plugins.yml
index 5c79d2c..d13178b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ansible-test-plugins.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ansible-test-plugins.yml
@@ -58,11 +58,7 @@ jobs:
           - '11.4.5'
         connector_name:
           - pymysql
-          - mysqlclient
         connector_version:
-          - '0.9.3'
-          - '1.0.2'
-          - '1.1.1'
           - '2.0.1'
           - '2.0.3'
           - '2.1.1'
@@ -107,15 +103,6 @@ jobs:
           - connector_name: pymysql
             connector_version: '2.1.1'
 
-          - connector_name: mysqlclient
-            connector_version: '0.9.3'
-
-          - connector_name: mysqlclient
-            connector_version: '1.0.2'
-
-          - connector_name: mysqlclient
-            connector_version: '1.1.1'
-
           - db_engine_version: '8.0.38'
             ansible: stable-2.17
 
diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/2-drop_mysql_client.yml b/changelogs/fragments/2-drop_mysql_client.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f854395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/2-drop_mysql_client.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+breaking_changes:
+- collection - stop testing against mysqlclient connector as its support was deprecated in this collection - use PyMySQL connector instead! It'll stop working in 5.0.0 when we remove all related code (https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.mysql/issues/654).
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/setup_controller/tasks/verify.yml b/tests/integration/targets/setup_controller/tasks/verify.yml
index d3d615f..c72b16e 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/setup_controller/tasks/verify.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/setup_controller/tasks/verify.yml
@@ -33,14 +33,6 @@
       when:
         - connector_name == 'pymysql'
 
-    - name: Assert that mysql_info module used the expected version of mysqlclient
-      assert:
-        that:
-          - primary_info.connector_name == 'MySQLdb'
-          - primary_info.connector_version == connector_version
-      when:
-        - connector_name == 'mysqlclient'
-
     - name: Get the python version in use
       ansible.builtin.shell:
         cmd: echo $( $(command -v python || command -v python3) -V )
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_query/tasks/mysql_query_initial.yml b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_query/tasks/mysql_query_initial.yml
index 5545111..3314ddc 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_query/tasks/mysql_query_initial.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_query/tasks/mysql_query_initial.yml
@@ -404,20 +404,15 @@
       - connector_version is version('0.10.0', '<')
 
   # Issue https://github.com/ansible-collections/community.mysql/issues/268
-  - name: Assert that create table IF NOT EXISTS is changed with mysqlclient
+  - name: Assert that create table IF NOT EXISTS is changed
     assert:
       that:
-        # Mysqlclient 2.0.1 and pymysql 0.10.0+ drivers throws no warning,
+        # pymysql 0.10.0+ drivers throw no warning,
         # so it's impossible to figure out if the state was changed or not.
         # We assume that it was for DDL queries by default in the code
         - result is changed
     when:
-      - >
-        connector_name == 'mysqlclient'
-        or (
-          connector_name == 'pymysql'
-          and connector_version is version('0.10.0', '>')
-        )
+      - connector_name == 'pymysql' and connector_version is version('0.10.0', '>')
 
   - name: Drop db {{ test_db }}
     mysql_query:
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_replication/tasks/mysql_replication_initial.yml b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_replication/tasks/mysql_replication_initial.yml
index 182ea5c..d87bada 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_replication/tasks/mysql_replication_initial.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_replication/tasks/mysql_replication_initial.yml
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@
         fail_on_error: true
       register: result
 
-    # mysqlclient 2.0.1 and pymysql 0.10.0+ always return "changed"
+    # pymysql 0.10.0+ always returns "changed"
     - name: Assert that startreplica is not changed
       assert:
         that:
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@
         timeout: 2
 
     # Test stopreplica mode:
-    # mysqlclient 2.0.1 and pymysql 0.10.0+ always return "changed"
+    # pymysql 0.10.0+ always returns "changed"
     - name: Stop replica that is no longer running
       mysql_replication:
         <<: *mysql_params
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/issue-28.yml b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/issue-28.yml
index 89d3d26..cf2a7ca 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/issue-28.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/issue-28.yml
@@ -60,13 +60,6 @@
       when:
         - connector_name == 'pymysql'
 
-    - name: Assert that result is success for mysqlclient
-      ansible.builtin.assert:
-        that:
-          - result is succeeded
-      when:
-        - connector_name != 'pymysql'
-
     - name: attempt connection with newly created user ignoring hostname
       community.mysql.mysql_variables:
         variable: '{{ set_name }}'
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/mysql_variables.yml b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/mysql_variables.yml
index e2fe9ab..bc3100c 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/mysql_variables.yml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/test_mysql_variables/tasks/mysql_variables.yml
@@ -184,16 +184,6 @@
       register: oor_result
       ignore_errors: true
 
-    - include_tasks: assert_var.yml
-      vars:
-        changed: true
-        output: "{{ oor_result }}"
-        var_name: max_connect_errors
-        var_value: 1
-      when:
-        - connector_name == 'mysqlclient'
-        - db_engine == 'mysql'  # mysqlclient returns "changed" with MariaDB
-
     - include_tasks: assert_fail_msg.yml
       vars:
         output: "{{ oor_result }}"