With less than a week to go until hundreds of contracts expire around Europe, we pick out eight of the best players who will soon be available for free.
For plenty of players, 30 June means the end of the season and the end of the road. Either because the player wants to leave or their club doesn’t want them, contracts are allowed to run down across Europe. Where those contracts expire, players are available for free, without a transfer fee needing to be negotiated between the clubs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sané have already agreed free transfers this summer, while Real Madrid legend Luka Modric is expected to follow suit after the Club World Cup.
But who is still yet to sign a contract either at their current club or another? With less than a week to go on their deals, we pick out eight of the best players who will soon be available on a free transfer.
Jonathan David
Still just 25 years of age but with five full seasons of top-level goalscoring under his belt, Jonathan David is sure to get a good move this summer, having decided to run down his contract at Lille.
The Canada international has scored 109 goals in 232 appearances in all competitions for the club, with tallies of 26, 26 and 25 in the last three campaigns, including nine in the Champions League (including two in qualifiers) last season. Over the course of his entire time in France, he has averaged an impressive 0.56 goals per 90.
David is adept at coming deep to receive the ball to feet or holding it up, but he tends to keep things simple when in possession, laser-focused instead on getting on the end of chances close to goal. He is at his most dangerous in the penalty area, with 107 of his 109 Lille goals having been scored from inside the box (98.2%), and 85% of his shots during that five-year period coming from inside the box, too.
He will surely want to test himself in another of Europe’s top leagues and presumably hopes to continue playing in the Champions League, so David could make a headline-grabbing move in the coming weeks.
Lucas Vázquez
Real Madrid stalwart Lucas Vázquez’s time at the Santiago Bernabéu is coming to an end this summer, with his contract running out 10 years on from his first-team debut in 2015.
Once a tricky winger who has converted into an attack-minded full-back and developed into a brilliant leader on the pitch, Vázquez brings with him a wealth of experience at the top level. In his decade with Madrid, he played 401 games, winning La Liga four times and the Champions League five times.
Given he played more than half of his minutes for Madrid at right-back, it’s hugely impressive how often he made telling contributions at the sharp end of the pitch, averaging 0.39 goal contributions per 90 minutes in all competitions over 10 years in Madrid white. Even in his final season with the club, when game time was limited and he was playing exclusively in defence, only Vinícius Júnior (eight), Jude Bellingham (eight) and Modric (six) registered more assists in La Liga than him (five).
Vázquez has always relied slightly on his quick feet, pace and agility, so given he turns 34 the day after his contract expires, he may not offer too much at the top of the game for much longer, but he will still make a worthwhile free transfer for somebody.
Kyle Walker-Peters
Kyle Walker-Peters was very highly rated as a youngster at Tottenham Hotspur, and he has played a lot of football in his five and a half years at Southampton as his undoubted talent has developed into a Premier League quality footballer. But now 28 and out of contract next week, he will be hoping for an opportunity at a club who aren’t battling it out at the lower end of the Premier League.
Relegation at the end of 2024-25 means Walker-Peters has finished no higher than 15th in the top flight in any of his five full seasons on the south coast. However, he is certainly capable of playing for a top-half Premier League team and will hope to get the chance to next season.
A technical and versatile defender, Walker-Peters is very comfortable on the ball and can use both feet, meaning he is at home on either side of defence. He happily gets into advanced positions to support attacks and yet retains possession impressively, maintaining a pass completion rate of 90.5% in Premier League games in 2024-25.
He also completed 38 successful dribbles, a total bettered by only two other defenders, and on a per-90 basis, he ranked fourth among defenders, with 1.2. Meanwhile, only seven players – six defenders and Jérémy Doku – recorded more progressive carries (taking the ball at least five metres towards the opposition’s goal) than him (315).
Rumours of West Ham interest or a possible Spurs return have been circulating, but wherever Walker-Peters lands, it would be a surprise if he is not plying his trade somewhere in the top-flight next season.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin
After nine seasons at Everton, Dominic Calvert-Lewin will leave the club this summer as he goes in search of an opportunity to play for a different team, having spent most of his career at Goodison Park.
The centre-forward may not be overwhelmed with offers from bigger clubs given his record of just 57 goals in 239 Premier League games. He scored 13 goals in 2019-20 and 16 in 2020-21, but managed no more than seven goals in any of his other seven campaigns with Everton. His total of three goals in 26 appearances last season means that his 11 caps for England, the last of which came in 2021, feel a very long time ago indeed.
And his goalscoring record wasn’t only because he was playing for an underperforming team; of every player in the Premier League since he moved to Everton, Calvert-Lewin has the worst record compared to his xG, scoring 18.3 goals fewer than the average finisher would have from the chances he had.
All that said, his contribution amounts to much more than goals. Calvert-Lewin works extremely hard, wins a lot of aerial battles and will consistently occupy multiple defenders on his own, which creates space for others elsewhere. It’s no coincidence that over the past five seasons, Everton’s win rate with him starting (35.5%) is higher than without him (26.5%).
It will be fascinating to see what his next move is.
Nélson Semedo
As things stand, Wolves captain Nélson Semedo has not signed the contract offer that has been on the table for a few weeks. The word is that Wolves want to trim their wage bill, and Semedo has been one of their top earners for years, on a reported £80,000 a week. There is reportedly an expectation that he will leave the club on the expiration of his contract next week.
He has been an incredibly reliable member of the squad since his move from Barcelona in 2020, playing at least 34 of 38 Premier League games in four of his five seasons in England.
Having previously played in midfield, Semedo is very good on the ball, and carries play forward consistently and with plenty of attacking threat; his 11 shot-ending carries were the second highest among non-attackers and non-central midfielders in the Premier League last season, behind Neco Williams (12).
It will be interesting to see if, having proved himself in England, a Premier League team offers him another chance or if he has to look elsewhere.
Josh Brownhill
Burnley are facing the unusual possibility of having won promotion to the Premier League last season (while winning 100 points, no less) but losing one of their best and most consistent performers.
Josh Brownhill played 39 of their 46 Championship games, ranked second in the entire league for goals scored (18) despite playing in central midfield most of the time, and was also in the top 20 for assists (six), second for Burnley behind Jaidon Anthony (seven).
He benefited somewhat from a purple patch in front of goal, with his 18 goals coming from just 10.0 xG – his overperformance of 8.0 was at least 3.0 more than anyone else. Those numbers, along with the fact that he’d never before scored more than seven in any league season suggest that he may not be able to replicate those goalscoring exploits in the top flight next season.
There is more to his game, though. He is an all-action midfielder who gets stuck in, making 1.7 tackles and 1.3 fouls per 90 minutes on average in the Championship last season. He won possession in the final third on 19 occasions in total, ranking favourably among midfielders in this regard.
Burnley will be much worse off if they aren’t able to call on him as they make their return to the top flight.
Victor Lindelöf
Victor Lindelöf is bringing an end to his eight years at Manchester United this summer, a period during which he won the FA Cup and League Cup, but gradually lost his place in the team and played less and less as a result. He made just six Premier League starts in 2024-25 despite Ruben Amorim using three centre-backs and so many other United defenders suffering injuries.
It is reasonable to believe that now is the right time for Lindelöf to move on, but also that he could make a very capable free signing for another Premier League team – potentially one who plays in a slightly lower block. The Swede played much of his best football for United in the counter-attacking teams of José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and last season, made more clearances per 90 (4.7) than any other United player (200+ mins played). He reads the game well and is very adept at the defensive side of the game.
Lindelöf has sometimes struggled against powerful runners when there is space in behind, so playing for a team lower down the league who are happy to drop back might suit him.
He is also very capable on the ball, comfortable on either side of central defence and able to use either foot, which is an invaluable skill for a centre-back these days, with every Premier League team playing out from the back in at least some capacity. Over the course of his 194 Premier League appearances, he has maintained an impressive pass completion rate of 89.2%. There are plenty of decent teams who could do far worse than sign Lindelöf.
Abdoulaye Doucouré
After five years at Everton, Abdoulaye Doucouré will move on this summer, and at the age of 32, he might not have too long left at the top of the game. That said, he could still do a job at a decent level, so there’s a chance we see a bit more of the former Watford man yet.
Doucouré started 31 games last season, showing that he is still more than able to deal with the physical demands of the Premier League. And it’s not like he just ambles around the pitch; he ranked seventh in the whole league for pressures applied (959) and for pressures in the middle third of the pitch (618) in 2024-25. He covers an awful lot of ground and works extremely hard off the ball.
He’s been a consistent Premier League performer for almost a decade now, and he might just have a couple more years at the top left in him.
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