Lionel Messi 17th, Mohamed Salah 3rd – The most valuable players out of contract in 2025

With the 2024/25 football season now in full flow, a number of top players are entering the last year of their contracts. The prospect of losing valuable assets for free next summer will spark panic amongst senior club figures and decisions will need to be made on their futures and quick. Some clubs may attempt to convince their stars to sign new deals, while others could look to sell-up in this January transfer window to avoid them leaving for nothing six months later.

The free agent market is extremely attractive to potential buyers and clubs will be able to officially approach players that aren’t with teams in their own leagues, on January 1, when they have just six months left on their contracts. With so many players now having less than 12 months left of their deals, we’ve analysed the most valuable players with contracts expiring in the summer of 2025, and there are a number of top quality talents that could be available on a free transfer next July.

Most Valuable Players Running Out Of Contract in 2025

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40. Tariq Lamptey – Brighton – €12m

Age: 24 [Updated October 2024]

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39. Nicola Zalewski – Roma – €12m

Age: 22

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38. Callum Wilson – Newcastle – €13m

Age: 32

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37. Walter Benítez – PSV – €13m

Age: 31

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36. Mario Pasalic – Atalanta – €13m

Age: 29

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35. Josh Brownhill – Burnley – €13m

Age: 28

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34. Jhon Córdoba – Krasnador – €14m

Age: 31

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33. Cristiano Ronaldo – Al-Nassr – €15m

Age: 39

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32. Victor Lindelöf – Manchester United – €15m

Age: 30

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31. Kenny Tete – Fulham – €15m

Age: 29

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30. Cucho Hernández – Columbus Crew – €15m

Age: 25

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29. Leif Davis – Ipswich – €15m

Age: 24

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28. Yarek Gasiorowski – Valencia – €15m

Age: 19

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27. Danilho Doekhi – Union Berlin – €17m

Age: 26

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26. Marco Verrati – Al-Arabi – €18m

Age: 31

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25. Harry Maguire – Manchester United – €18m

Age: 31

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24. Thomas Partey – Arsenal – €18m

Age: 31

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23. Christian Norgaard – Brentford – €18m

Age: 30

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22. Denzen Dumfries – Inter Milan – €20m

Age: 28

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21. Kyle Walker-Peters – Southampton – €20m

Age: 27

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20. Ferland Mendy – Real Madrid – €22m

Age: 29

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19. Dominic Calvert-Lewin – Everton – €22m

Age: 27

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18. Amad Diallo – Manchester United – €22m

Age: 22

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17. Lionel Messi – Inter Miami – €25m

Age: 37

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16. Sean Longstaff – Newcastle – €25m

Age: 26

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15. Tyrick Mitchell – Crystal Palace – €25m

Age: 25

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14. Frank Anguissa – Napoli – €27m

Age: 28

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13. Olivier Boscagli – PSV – €27m

Age: 26

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12. Angel Gomes – Lille – €28m

Age: 24

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11. Virgil van Dijk – Liverpool – €30m

Age: 33

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10. Neymar – Al-Hilal – €30m

Age: 32

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9. Jonathan Tah – Bayer Leverkusen – €30m

Age: 28

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8. Kevin De Bruyne – Manchester City – €45m

Age: 33

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7. Heung-min Son – Tottenham – €45m

Age: 32

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6. Jonathan David – Lille – €45m

Age: 24

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5. Joshua Kimmich – Bayern Munich – €50m

Age: 29

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4. Alphonso Davies – Bayern Munich – €50m

Age: 23

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3. Mohamed Salah – Liverpool – €55m

Age: 32

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2. Leroy Sané – Bayern Munich – €60m

Age: 28

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1. Trent Alexander-Arnold – Liverpool – €70m

Age: 26

The most valuable free agents in 2025

In first place as the most valuable player entering the last year of his current contract is Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool right-back has a market value of €70m, and has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid next summer. He is the current vice captain at Anfield, and has been at the club since he was six years old, progressing through the various youth teams to become a key player at Liverpool. He has won both the Champions League and the Premier League with the Reds, but the opportunity to join ‘Los Blancos’ and be the successor to Dani Carvajal may be too tempting to deny.

In second place is Bayern Munich winger Leroy Sané with a market value of €60m. The former Manchester City player has been linked with a move to a number of Premier League clubs including Manchester United. In third is another Liverpool star in 33-year-old Mohamed Salah with a market value of €55m. He is the club’s all-time top Premier League scorer with 140 goals, but has been linked with a summer move to the Saudi Pro League. In fourth is Bayern Munich full-back Alphonso Davies – the 23-year-old Canadian has a market value of €50m. Bayern’s dominance over the list continues, with 29-year-old midfielder Joshua Kimmich in fifth – also boasting a €50m market value.

Sixth place goes to Lille striker Jonathan David, with the 24 year old having a current market value of €45m. He is followed by Tottenham’s Heung-min Son and Man City’s Kevin De Bruyne – both also having a €45m market value, but Son leading being one year De Bruyne’s junior. Bayer Leverkusen’s 28-year-old defender Jonathan Tah comes in ninth with a €30m market value, with Al-Hilal superstar Neymar completing the top 10, also with a €30m valuation.

As illustrated in the graphic above, if we combine an XI of the most valuable players running out of contract next summer, it creates a fearsome line-up. PSV’s Walter Benítez is in between the sticks. The experience of Tah and Virgil van Dijk at centre-back is flanked by two of the world’s best full-backs in Alexander-Arnold and Davies. Kimmich then holds the midfield. In front of him, the creative force that is De Bruyne, is joined by Lille and England midfielder Angel Gomes. Then the front three pits Salah and Sané on the wings with David through the middle. It showcases that there is plenty of talent that could be available on a free on July 1, 2025.