The latest winter transfer window is here, meaning some of the world’s best footballers have just six months left until their current contracts expire.
Thanks to the 1995 Bosman decision, clubs from other countries can now begin formal discussions with soon-to-be free agents about pre-contractual agreements. This allows players to join any club they are interested in without approval from their existing employer when their current contract ends.
With many of Europe’s elite players from leading clubs yet to agree their next contracts, The Athletic has identified 12 of the most high-profile players currently set to be available for free over the summer.
For those who don’t know, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract expires in the summer.
The Liverpool vice-captain has enjoyed an excellent first half of the season under new manager Arne Slott, with the Anfield club poised to compete for trophies domestically and in Europe. So far, the 26-year-old has provided five assists, including two in the 3-3 draw with Newcastle United in early December, and last weekend’s 5-0 win over West Ham. He scored his first goal of the season.
Interest from Real Madrid in Alexander-Arnold (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
As one of the team’s most important players, an experienced head of the club’s coaching team and a boyhood fan who was born locally and went through the club’s academy, Liverpool are looking to sign Alexander-Arnold to a new contract. However, it faces stiff competition in its dominance. Spanish and European champions Real Madrid have made a right-back their priority target for next season.
Madrid can begin formal talks with Alexander-Arnold’s agent from today (1 January) to put in place a pre-contractual agreement to join the 15-time European Cup/Champions League winners. Liverpool may therefore need to act quickly.
If anyone had any doubts about Mohamed Salah’s ability to continue racking up goals and assists well into his 30s before the season started in August, his performances in the months since have doubted them. It clearly silenced any doubts.
In fact, there is a legitimate argument that Salah is the best player in the world at the moment. The 32-year-old (he will turn 33 just before his contract expires in June) has scored 20 goals and provided 17 assists in all competitions, propelling Liverpool to the top of the Premier League and Champions League ahead of the start of 2025.
Liverpool have offered Salah a starting contract, but he is yet to commit to his future at Anfield. Liverpool rejected a bid of up to £150m from Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in 2023, but the Gulf nation’s interest in the Egyptian player is unlikely to wane.
But whether Salah, the world’s most famous Arab athlete, would be tempted to move to the Saudi Professional League at this stage of his career is another question.
Rounding out Liverpool’s trio of high-profile free agent candidates is club captain Virgil van Dijk.
Like Salah, Van Dijk is proving to his doubters that he can still perform at an elite level well into his 30s. The Dutchman is arguably the best centre-back in the Premier League this season, compiling a defense that has conceded less than one goal per game.
At 33 years old (he turns 34 in early July), this could be Van Dijk’s last long-term contract with a top European club. His future is uncertain, but he has received a contract offer from Liverpool and there is growing belief around Anfield that he will stay.
Kevin De Bruyne is perhaps the best player to ever wear a Manchester City shirt, but this year has been far from his best since joining Manchester City from Wolfsburg in Germany in 2015.
After an impressive start to the season with a goal in a 4-1 win over Ipswich Town, De Bruyne was forced into Josep Guardiola’s starting XI due to injury problems and a lack of form. It keeps coming off and coming off. He appeared to have rediscovered his devastating ability to stay in the final third in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in December, but has struggled to maintain that level consistently. .
De Bruyne will turn 34 in June, just before his current contract expires, but De Bruyne has attracted interest from PIF-backed clubs in Saudi Arabia, as reported on our 2025 transfer radar. Yes, discussions are ongoing with MLS and a number of clubs. Although the team is in the North American League, he has a chance to remain with City if he wishes.
Alphonso Davies’ incredible speed and attacking quality have long made him one of the most coveted defenders in European football, with many of the continent’s big clubs interested in signing him. No wonder there are.
After making repeated starts for Bayern Munich last season, Davies has made a solid start to the season, with new manager Vincent Kompany’s side taking an early lead in their quest for top spot in the Bundesliga.
Davis’ contract expires at the end of this season (Alexandra Beier/AFP via Getty Images)
Bayern are keen to sign the 24-year-old Canadian international, who has attracted interest from Premier League clubs and Real Madrid. With so many top clubs in the market for a left-back, it would be no surprise to see Davies in a number of transfer talks with Europe’s biggest clubs until his future is decided.
Canadian compatriot Davies may well stay at his current club, but Jonathan David appears set for a move to the European giants.
The striker has played consistently for French side Lille and the national team in recent years, but has made a notable breakthrough this season, particularly in the Champions League. David, 24, has scored six goals and provided three assists in 10 games in Europe, an impressive record considering the profile of the club he plays for. He remained undisturbed in the domestic League 1, scoring 11 points in 15 games, including a hat trick against Le Havre in September.
Several Premier League clubs have praised him, including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Aston Villa. Italy’s Juventus and Inter Milan, as well as Spain’s Atletico Madrid, are also monitoring the player.
Seen as the logical successor to Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller as the German leader at the heart of the Bayern team, it seemed inevitable that Joshua Kimmich would spend his prime years in Munich. However, given the stalled contract negotiations between the 29-year-old and Bayern’s board, his future may lie away from the Allianz Arena.
Kimmich has spent the past few years at Bayern indifferent, switching between defensive midfield and full-back under Kompany and his predecessor Thomas Tuchel, both of whom are keen to get the best out of the German captain. has not been completed. Although not a cheap price for interested parties, he is one of the most talented midfielders in Europe and will attract attention from top clubs.
Leroy Sane
Despite his undoubted talent and athleticism, Leroy Sane has struggled for consistency since joining Bayern from Manchester City in the summer of 2020.
Sane started for Bayern in electric form in the 2023-24 season, scoring eight goals and providing 10 assists in the opening 17 Bundesliga games. However, due to injury and not being able to regain his original form, he only recorded one assist in the second half of 34 league games. So far in this campaign, he has moved in and out of the new coach’s side.
The Germany international turns 29 this month, so he is no longer a young talent who can be expected to be inconsistent. Yet when Sane is at his best, few wingers can match his world-class ability to weave through defenders and remain in the final third at an elite level.
Angel Gomez attracted the attention of many England fans after England caretaker manager Lee Carsley handed him his first call-up to the first-team squad in September to replace Gareth Southgate after his departure.
Gomez then impressed at the base of Kearsley’s midfield, showing his keenness to push his team forward with his incisive passing, calm in possession and defensive awareness. After leaving Manchester United in 2020 after making five league appearances, Gomez developed in Ligue 1 with Lille and could return to the Premier League this summer.
If fit and available, Gomez will be a mainstay in Lille’s midfield. He is capable of playing in the No. 10, No. 8 or even the deeper No. 6 position he occupied under Coach Kearsley.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin looked set to become one of England’s most in-demand forwards just a few seasons ago, but injuries have halted his development.
Over the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, he scored 29 goals in 69 league games, following the latter into England’s European Championship squad ahead of several more experienced options. Calvert-Lewin, who is now 27 years old and has scored just 16 points since the 2020-21 season, could be in line for a move to reignite his career.
Calvert-Lewin’s career has stalled due to injury (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)
However, he remains important to Sean Dyche’s plans at Everton. He has started 16 of 18 league games this season, and although his goals have decreased, the manager has praised his hold-up play and defensive work.
neymar
Neymar remains one of the most famous and talented players in the world, but his move to Saudi Arabia has not been successful.
The 32-year-old Brazilian will be a key part of the exodus of superstars to the Saudi Professional League in 2023, joining Al Hilal after six years at Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar played just five games for his new club before sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament knee injury against Brazil in October 2023. He finally returned after being out for more than a year, but soon developed a hamstring problem that has kept him out of action since then.
Neymar has attracted the attention of MLS clubs, namely Inter Miami, and will be on the pitch alongside former Barcelona teammates Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, as well as his current will play alongside head coach Javier Mascherano and others. . It would be complicated for Miami to sign Neymar under the league’s salary cap restrictions, but it’s not impossible. But for now, his future appears to be up in the air.
Jonathan Tarr is considered one of Germany’s most promising players in central defence, but his traditionally error-prone reputation is one of the main reasons why he has not yet joined a big club. They were one. If he can correct those mistakes, Tarr, an elite athlete who excels in possession, looked poised to move on.
Under Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso, the 28-year-old has fulfilled that promise over the past two seasons and is now regarded as one of the Bundesliga’s most reliable and solid defenders. He played a key role in Leverkusen’s unbeatable 2023-24 domestic season, establishing himself as the heart of Germany’s defense under coach Julian Nagelsmann.
With so many top teams across Europe looking for reinforcements in central defence, Tarr could soon join the ranks of football’s smaller elite clubs.
(Top photo of De Bruyne and Kimmich; Getty Images)
