Despite the financial downturn across the globe, the English Premier League still broke its spending record in the summer transfer window — £1.9 billion ($2.2bn) — and had an outlay greater than Spain’s LaLiga, Italy’s Serie A and the German Bundesliga combined.
But with the World Cup over and finances set to be stretched further, free transfers will become even more important. Some big-name players will be available for nothing at the end of the season if they don’t put pen to paper soon.
World Cup winner Lionel Messi is set to extend his deal with PSG by another year, while Manchester United have already extended the contracts of Marcus Rashford, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Fred with their one-year option.
But here, with the help of Transfermarkt, are some top players who can be picked up for nothing and can start to negotiate with other clubs outside their own leagues in January.
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A few years ago it would have been unthinkable that Chelsea would have allowed Kante to leave for nothing, but the 31-year-old has become less of a key player for the Blues in recent seasons and has suffered more injuries. Barcelona are reportedly leading the chase for his signature as they look to replace Sergio Busquets.
Chelsea are also set to lose Jorginho, 31, so could have a major rebuilding job in central midfield to do.
