The turn of July means the start of a fresh year in a footballer’s contract, but for those who were in the final year, they now find themselves without a club.
Those stars are sure to be hot property around the world as clubs look to land a bargain signing by bringing in talented players on cut-price deals. Mohamed Salah and Jadon Sancho are two of the most high-profile players now without a club after their deals at Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively, ended.
But neither player is the highest-valued without a club, according to Transfermarkt’s valuations. That instead rests with the once highly-coveted Serbian striker and former Manchester United target Dusan Vlahovic, who joined Juventus in January 2022 in a deal worth around £70million. But the 26-year-old is now a free agent having scored 68 goals in 168 games after being valued at £30million.
Second on the list is another prominent Premier League name with Harry Wilson, at £21.4m attracting interest, most notably from Leeds United, who are reported close to signing the former Fulham winger on a lucrative contract.
Salah comes third on the list at £18.5m and Sancho fifth at £15.4m, but sandwiched between the two is ex-Chelsea defender Malang Sarr at £17.1m after leaving Lens.
Former Barcelona and Celta Vigo defender Oscar Mingueza comes sixth, with a market value also of £17.1m, with the 27-year-old Spaniard an interesting option for a number of Premier League clubs.
In seventh, valued at £12.9m comes Julian Brandt fresh off ending a seven-year spell at Borussia Dortmund, where he won the DFB-Pokal and came runner-up in the 2024 Champions League final. Ex-Lorient and Senegal striker Bamba Dieng, 26, is also valued the same.
Turkish full-back Zeki Celik, 29, would offer bags of experience to his next club having ended four years at Roma this summer where he was valued at £12m. While former Union Berlin centre-back Danilho Doekhi is another interesting option, having been valued at £11.1m
Rounding off the top ten are a host of names with a market value of £9.4m, including John Stones, Fabinho and Leon Goretzka, but Ivorian midfielder Franck Kessie is the most intriguing name after the former Barcelona powerhouse ended a lucrative three year contract at Al-Ahli. Having regularly been linked with a move to the Premier League, will the 29-year-old finally make that move this summer?