Soccer
Free agents 2025: Salah, De Bruyne among big names free to sign elsewhere in January
Premier League and Bundesliga stars are among those able to agree pre-contract deals with new teams from Wednesday.
The New Year is a time of change for many, with new goals and new opportunities on the horizon. For soccer’s elite stars, January 1 is also a key date for those who are in the final year of their existing contracts.
Players whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season will be able to sign pre-contract agreements with teams from different countries as soon as they enter the final six months of their current deals. They would not be able to join until the expiration of their current deals in the summer, but from January 1 they are essentially on the market.
The most high-profile of these impending situations is found at Liverpool, where three genuine world class talents are approaching free agency. Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and team captain Virgil van Dijk will all be able to agree terms with non-British clubs from Wednesday. Salah and Van Dijk have both insisted publicly that they are eager to re-sign on Merseyside. The intentions of Alexander-Arnold are less clear, amid relentless talk of interest from Real Madrid.
But those three are far from the only big names who are entering the final six months of their current contracts...
Bayern Munich could lose key stars
After finally losing their grip on the Bundesliga title in 2023/24, Bayern Munich are back on top of the league this year. Head coach Vincent Kompany has lost just one of his first 15 league fixtures and enjoys broadly good support from fans. However he could soon lose three established players for nothing.
Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich and Leroy Sane are all out of contract in the summer and have been linked with moves away. Davies is the subject of sustained interest from Real Madrid, while Kimmich has been tipped for a reunion with former Bayern head coach Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
Speaking after the recent draw with Borussia Dortmund, Kimmich revealed that he needs more time to decide on his future: “It’s a very, very important decision for me that has to be made. It will be good to see the bigger picture in winter - and to see what has happened... Of course the past plays a role, but the future is more important.”
Sane’s time at Bayern has lacked consistency and he looks unlikely to receive a new offer until closer to the end of the season. The 28-year-old has made only five starts in the Bundesliga so far this season and his large salary demands could see Bayern agree to part ways.
Premier League icons approach the end
Next summer will mark ten years since Son Heung-min and Kevin de Bruyne joined their respective clubs. They arrived in the Premier League from German teams in the summer of 2015, just two days apart, and have gone on to establish themselves as two of the league’s most consistent performers over the past decade.
But now, Son and De Bruyne are entering the final sixth months of their current deals. Aged 31 and 32, respectively, they are among their teams' highest earners and may have to accept a reduction in terms or playing time if they are to stay.
Where else could they go? Son looks the most likely to stay, owing to the one-year extension option that Spurs could choose to trigger. The future for De Bruyne, however, is less clear. He has found himself sidelined in recent weeks and City are tipped to embark on a major midfield reshuffle to arrest a historically bad run of form from the reigning champions. The Belgian has been cited as a candidate for an MLS move, with new team San Diego FC repeatedly linked with De Bruyne as a statement signing.
Elsewhere, there could be big summer moves in the offing for players outside the elite of European soccer. Jonathan David (Lille), Frank Anguissa (Napoli), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen), Olivier Boscagli (PSV) and Angel Gomes (Lille) are all entering the final months of their contracts and will not be short of suitors.
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