Since January 1, footballers with contracts expiring on June 30, 2022, can officially negotiate with interested clubs and even sign contracts – this time, the list of players who are supposedly available for free is very prestigious: Paul Pogba (Man United), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Ousmane Dembélé (Barça), Antonio Rüdiger (Chelsea) and in Kylian Mbappé (PSG) even the most valuable footballer in the world is on it.
Dembélé & Co. – The most valuable players with contracts expiring in 2022
However, the fact that clubs can sign these players for free is a fairy tale. Top players who move on without a transfer fee come with a high price tag, because in addition to agent fees and signing-on fees, they are in a very good position when it comes to negotiating the salary with their new employers.
Rüdiger, for example, has been courted by Chelsea for months, but to date the Blues have not offered him the amount he wants – meanwhile, rumours about Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are gathering pace. Covid-19 has made sure that money is shorter even at big clubs and so many decided not to extend the contract of one or the other player in the summer of 2020, because the situation was too uncertain with empty stadiums and missing income.
It was simply too high a risk to give player X a new 5-year contract including a pay rise, because no one knew what would happen next. Many of these footballers are now on the market and there will probably be numerous exciting salary negotiations – with the current club not wanting to be held to ransom with the threat of a departure on a free transfer. And the interested clubs, who will have to ponder how far they will go to get the free agent off the market without blowing up their own salary structure.
Pogba, Rüdiger & Co. Most valuable players with contracts expiring in 2022 Click here for overview There is also a risk of missing out on a good ooportunity in this game – a problem Mbappé will not have. At a certain level, you can choose your club, as Lionel Messi did last summer when he moved from FC Barcelona to PSG. The fact that the biggest names among free agents almost all end up at the same club, as in 2021, is unlikely to happen in 2022, as PSG will not be able to strike again in such a way.
While the trend for Dybala or Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), for example, is toward a contract extension, in the case of Mbappé, Franck Kessié (AC Milan), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Jesús Corona (Porto) or Alexandre Lacazette (Arsenal), many things point to a departure. Gladbach’s Matthias Ginter and Denis Zakaria already provided clarity and will leave Borussia in the summer of 2022, while it is unclear what happens with Rüdiger and Niklas Süle (Bayern Munich), among others.
Messi, Beckham & Co. – The most valuable free transfers in history
45 Ruud van Nistelrooy – 2010 – Market Value: €16M
