Some very well-known players from Europe’s biggest and best teams are into the final few months of their contracts and, as things stand, can be signed on a free transfer later this year.
For many of the biggest clubs in Europe (Manchester City aside), January was a relatively quiet month.
The winter transfer window is never the busiest time, but this one felt particularly low-key. None of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool or Newcastle signed a player to join their first-team squad this month. In Spain, neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona made a permanent signing. Nor did Bayern Munich.
Other teams did some business, but plenty more chose to keep their powder dry.
Perhaps that was because it was so difficult to find value in January. Perhaps clubs decided their squads didn’t need improving. Or maybe, they had their eye on some potential bargains in the summer.
That would be understandable given the list of names who are now into the final months of their contracts and, as things stand, will be available on a free transfer in June. They are also allowed to agree a summer deal to join a club from another country right away.
They also all have a few months to sign an extension at their current clubs. They might all extend their deals and stay put, but for now, they are headed out the door, free to go elsewhere on a Bosman.
Here, we pick out seven players who could be set for a free transfer to one of Europe’s biggest clubs this summer.
Ibrahima Konaté
Liverpool’s centre-back situation is a curious one. They have two immense players there in Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, but their only other options are teenager Giovanni Leoni, who ruptured his ACL on his debut in September, and the perennially injured Joe Gomez. Backup central midfielder Wataru Endo is probably their most reliable alternative.
And they head into the final three months of 2025-26 with only their two first-choice options fit – though Gomez is expected back in training by next week – and a degree of uncertainty over the future of both. Van Dijk will turn 35 this July and has just one more season left on his contract, while Konaté is coming to the end of his deal this summer. With the highly rated Jérémy Jacquet arriving at the end of the season, it’s not clear where Konaté’s future lies.
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3 days ago David SegarHe has grown into an increasingly reliable defender, not least for his availability. He has started 23 of Liverpool’s 24 Premier League games this season – alongside Van Dijk every time – and only missed a game on compassionate leave after the recent death of his father. He returned for Saturday’s 4-1 win over Newcastle, in which the France international scored.
He thrives in the air, boasting the second-best aerial duel success rate (minimum 30 contested) in the Premier League this season (73.3%), behind only Van Dijk (77.3%), but he is also more than adept with the ball at his feet, having found a teammate with 89.4% of his passes. And Konaté doesn’t just play simple passes: he ranks 10th in the Premier League this season for line-breaking passes (176).
There have been question marks about his form this season, but still just 26 years of age, Konaté would make a sensational free signing if he is allowed to run his contract down. Liverpool left it late with agreeing new contracts for Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah last year, but they did lose Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free. Watch this space.
Bernardo Silva
Genuinely one of the best players in Premier League history, Bernardo Silva has reportedly decided to leave Manchester City when his contract expires in the summer. After nine years at the Etihad, in which time he has won all there is to win, who could blame the 31-year-old for fancying a new challenge?
“I know exactly what I’m going to do,” he said last year when asked about the upcoming expiry of his deal. And if he does move on, his next club will be getting a true legend on a free.
He is exceptional on the ball, rarely losing possession despite operating in advanced areas, but he is also versatile and can do a very reliable job at the base of midfield. He is only 5-foot-8, but gets stuck in and is always up for the physical battle.
Over the course of 20,542 minutes of action across 290 Premier League appearances, Silva has maintained a passing accuracy of 89.2%, and remarkably, that only drops to 87.3% in the attacking half and 84.0% in the final third. Of players to play 200+ Premier League games since Silva’s debut in the competition, only Ilkay Gündogan has a better pass completion rate in the attacking third of the pitch.
He also has an eye for a killer pass, ranking seventh in the Premier League for assists since he joined City, having recently brought up his half-century.
It’s hard to imagine him playing for a different Premier League club, but he could absolutely keep playing for a top side somewhere else in Europe for a good few more years yet.
Marcos Senesi
Bournemouth have got into the quite amazing habit of producing defenders who go on to play for the biggest and best teams in the world. Last summer, they sold Dean Huijsen to Real Madrid, Milos Kerkez to Liverpool and Illia Zabarnyi to PSG.
They probably won’t be too happy about the prospect of another one going this summer, then, particularly because they look set to lose their best defender for free this time around.
Marcos Senesi has rejected several contract offers and will leave this summer, which will come as a major blow to Andoni Iraola given the centre-back has started all but one of Bournemouth’s league games this season.
He is, first and foremost, a very good defender, ranking second in the Premier League this season for combined total of blocks, tackles and interceptions, with 113 (behind only Everton’s James Garner, on 117). However, he stands out most for his distribution.
He has played more progressive passes – defined as completed open-play passes in the attacking two-thirds of the pitch that move the ball at least 25% closer to the goal – than any other player in the Premier League this season (140), while he also leads the league for passes that break two lines of the opposition’s structure, with 48, which puts him 12 clear of anyone else.
In a sign of how effective he is with long passes, he also leads the way for passes that break all three lines of the opposition’s team (six). His vision is further highlighted by the fact that he ranks third in the Premier League for assists from passes (excluding crosses and throw-ins), and fourth for expected assists (3.41 xA).
Clearly, he will be able to make a move to a more possession-dominant team and may well make a step up to a higher level as a result.
Dusan Vlahovic
In a world where top-class number nines are at a premium, Dusan Vlahovic remains hot property.
Linked with the Premier League throughout his career, there is talk that this summer might be the time the Serb finally makes the move.
Now 26, the 6-foot-3 centre-forward is a formidable force with plenty of experience at the highest level. Having moved to Juventus four years ago, following four and a half years at Fiorentina, he may now be looking for a new challenge in another league.
Since he moved to Italy, only Lautaro Martínez (128) and Ciro Immobile (117) have scored more goals in Serie A than Vlahovic (90). His impressive rate of 0.57 goals per 90 over 14,225 minutes of game time highlights just how much threat he carries, although the positions of his goals show he is very much not just a penalty-box striker. Eleven of his 69 non-penalty goals have been scored from outside the area.
He excels with his back to goal, too, able to hold off defenders to retain possession and find runners from midfield. The physical challenge of another league should not be considered a barrier to him.
Antonio Rüdiger
Former Chelsea man Antonio Rüdiger is coming to the end of his Real Madrid contract and, yet to be offered a new deal ahead of his 33rd birthday next month, it looks like he might be off in the summer.
Any argument that he might deserve an extension hasn’t been helped by a series of uncharacteristic injury problems in the last year. According to transfermarkt.com, the Germany international missed just four games for club and country between signing for Madrid in summer 2022 and January 2025. In the last 12 months, he has missed 37, and that number will rise further as he is currently out with a knee injury. His availability has fallen off a cliff.
That may be a sign of terminal decline as he moves towards the latter years of his career, but even if he isn’t up to playing for one of the biggest teams in the world, he could certainly still play for another Champions League-level club.
He is assured both in and out of possession. He has completed at least 90% of his passes in each of his four seasons in La Liga, even while retaining a penchant for a long, raking diagonal, and he defends without making too many interventions that might make him vulnerable in behind, relying more on his experience and reading of the game to keep play in front of him.
He might not be the player he once was, but on a free transfer, there are a lot of teams who could do worse than signing him.
John Stones
Speaking of injury-prone centre-backs, there may never be one as talented and relentlessly hampered by injuries as John Stones.
This summer will mark 10 years since Stones joined Manchester City from Everton, and it looks like he will be moving on after a trophy-laden time at the Etihad.
The main problem for Stones has always been that he has struggled to stay fit; across his nine and a half seasons in Manchester, he has played in just 178 of a possible 366 Premier League matches (48.6%). He has been on the pitch just 39.7% of the time in league games.
Were it not for that woeful injury record, he would surely be considered one of the Premier League’s best ever defenders. As it is, he will always be thought of as a fantastic and hugely successful footballer who could have achieved even more.
Headed for the end of his contract just after his 32nd birthday at the end of May, there is little reason for City to renew given how little he played in the last few years. Since starting in the Champions League final that City won in June 2023, Stones has started just 22 of a possible 100 Premier League games.
There is no denying his ability, though. He is a leader, an exceptional defender, and very capable on the ball. His game intelligence is highlighted in the fact that he played a totally unique hybrid centre-back/central midfielder role for City for a period.
As he reaches the twilight years of his career and with injuries catching up on him, the pace of the Premier League will become even more of a challenge. Perhaps a move abroad would make sense if his legs haven’t completely gone.
Leon Goretzka
It could be a summer of much change for Bayern Munich, who face losing Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry and Raphaël Guerreiro on free transfers, while 39-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will surely retire.
That trio could all be of use at the top level but, given they are all the wrong side of 30, we’ve picked out the one that arguably relies least on his pace: Goretzka. Also, Bayern have already confirmed that he will leave the club after his contract ends.
The Germany international turns 31 on Friday, but still has plenty to give at this level. He is among the Bayern players to have started the most Bundesliga games this season (15), and he will continue to play an important role for the rest of the campaign.
Goretzka is an imposing, physical central midfielder who crashes into tackles, reads the game well, and arrives in the opposition box effectively. A couple of seasons ago, he scored six goals and added seven assists in just 25 Bundesliga starts from defensive midfield.
While he doesn’t threaten goal as much as that now, he still gets around the pitch well, and is reliable with his passing; of players to play at least 1,000 minutes in the Bundesliga this season, only three have a better passing accuracy than him (92.8%).
He helps provide the foundation for the many very talented attackers in the Bayern ranks to thrive, and things happen after he has made a pass. He ranks top of the Bundesliga this season for secondary assists – the pass before the assist – with six.
There’s no question that Goretzka can still cut it at the top, and now Bayern have confirmed they won’t renew his contract, he’ll make a very good free signing for someone.
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