There
are some brilliant footballers available on free transfers who are out
of contract in the summer of 2023, though clubs have options on some of
these players. Manchester United have triggered one-year options for
Marcus Rashford, Diogo Dalot, Fred and Luke Shaw to take them off this
list.
We have ranked by ‘value’ according to Transfermarkt but that’s just a guide.
1) Milan Skriniar (Inter Milan)
Every club in Europe will be desperate to sign Skriniar as experienced, combative centre-halves in their prime being available for bugger all is very, very rare. Real Madrid are interested in the Slovakian but so are Manchester United, PSG and any other club with ambitions and a realistic budget.
2) Lionel Messi (PSG)
The word from Spain about Lionel ‘GOAT’ Messi is that ‘PSG and Messi approach positions’, which basically means that PSG are now going to have to throw all the money at the World Cup winner and also all the power in this relationship. If he wants a two-year deal with the unilateral decision about his future after the first 12 months then we suspect that is exactly what he will get.
3) Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)
We are still confused that nobody signed him for relative pennies in the summer of 2022 and yet he remains at Leicester playing second fiddle to The James Maddison Show. Arsenal, Tottenham and Barcelona are all being linked with a January move for even fewer relative pennies.
4) Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
The queue will be long for the Ballon d’Or winner, though France being better at the World Cup without him is not a great look.
5) Jorginho (Chelsea)
The Italian has been linked with a return to Italy pretty much since the minute he landed in west London. The theory goes that Chelsea will only give a new contract to Jorginho or the slightly broken man a few places down this list.
6) Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)
“Wilfried knows what the club thinks about him and we know what he thinks about the club,” says Patrick Vieira. A big decision lies ahead: Does he stay at the club that loves him or have one crack at Champions League football while he still can? He fancies Liverpool, apparently.
7) Evan Ndicka (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Arsenal have been linked with the Frenchman with a view to partnering him with William Saliba in the centre of their defence. Helping to keep a clean sheet v Spurs will help his cause.
8) Leandro Trossard (Brighton)
The Belgian has an option to extend his contract for another year, assuming he thinks kindly enough of the Seagulls to do that and protect his value ahead of a move to Chelsea to re-join Graham Potter.
9) Thomas Lemar (Atletico Madrid)
The winger who almost joined Liverpool and Arsenal will soon leave Atletico Madrid, despite summer talk of the Frenchman agreeing a quite substantial drop in wages to stay in the capital.
10) N’Golo Kante (Chelsea)
Injury problems have dogged him over the last three seasons and have now kept him out of the World Cup. He is still best in the business when fit, but is he fit often enough to merit a new deal at Chelsea or elsewhere?
11) Marcus Thuram (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
Strongly linked with Manchester United but it seems that the French striker might well join Newcastle United in January for a bargain £10m after 10 Bundesliga goals this season.
12) Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt)
A starter for Japan at the World Cup, Kamada had already come to prominence with Champions League goals against Spurs, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon. Everton, Leeds and Roma have all been linked with the attacking midfielder.
13) Youssoufa Moukoko (Borussia Dortmund)
“I feel so comfortable at BVB, I love the club. I’d really love to stay at Borussia Dortmund,” says the 18-year-old striker. “I want to understand what kind of project and perspective the club will offer me, it’s an important point.” After six goals in 766 Bundesliga minutes this season, we imagine the club will respond with a very appropriate contract offer.
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14) Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
We advocated for his sale in the summer of 2022, having failed to realise – as pretty much everyone barring Jurgen Klopp did – that they would still need and value the Brazilian even after the arrivals of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez. Juventus will lead the queue next summer if the Reds do not blink first and offer him a new deal.
15) Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig)
Chelsea, Liverpool and Bayern Munich have all been linked with the Austrian central midfielder who is considered something of a pressing machine.
16) Ilkay Gundogan (Manchester City)
Juventus love a free transfer from the Premier League and they seem to be heading the queue for the German. In theory, Kalvin Phillips will replace him, but that is nothing but a theory right now.
17) Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)
Only one La Liga start for Real Madrid this season tells you everything about the Spaniard’s current standing, and he did little to increase his value at a World Cup that saw him only score against Costa Rica and get hauled off after 63 minutes as Spain lost to Morocco.
18) Viktor Tsygankov (Dynamo Kiev)
Six goals and five assists in 13 league games has been enough to attract Newcastle United and West Ham to the Israeli-born winger.
19) Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester City)
Remember when he was the reason that Leicester City could rest easy about selling Harry Maguire? He is now so far down the Foxes’ pecking order that he has played only one Premier League game this season. An unlikely move to Atletico Madrid appears to be close.
20) Toni Kroos (Real Madrid)
It is presumed that Real Madrid will offer a one-year extension to the German, who is still starting pretty much every game for the Champions League winners.
