The latest winter transfer window is here, which means some of the world’s best footballers are now just six months away from the expiration of their current contracts.

Thanks to the 1995 Bosman ruling, clubs in other countries can now officially begin discussions with those soon-to-be-free-agents with a view to a pre-contract agreement. This allows the player to join the interested club when their present deal runs out without sign-off from his existing employers.

With so many elite players at leading clubs around Europe yet to agree their next contract, The Athletic has identified 12 of the most prominent players currently set to be available for free in the summer window.

In case you haven’t heard, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract expires in the summer.

Liverpool’s vice-captain has had an excellent first half of the season under new coach Arne Slot, with the Anfield club primed to compete for trophies domestically and in Europe. So far, the 26-year-old has made five assists, including two in the 3-3 draw against Newcastle United in early December, and recorded his first goal of the season in the 5-0 win at West Ham last weekend.

As one of the team’s most important players — an experienced head in the club’s leadership team and a boyhood fan who came through the club’s academy having been born locally — Liverpool are keen to sign Alexander-Arnold to a new deal but face stiff competition from reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid, who have made the right-back their priority target ahead of next season.

Liverpool may have to act quickly, as Madrid can begin formal discussions with Alexander-Arnold’s representatives from today (January 1) to arrange a pre-contract agreement to join the 15-time European Cup/Champions League winners.

If there were any doubters before the season began in August about Mohamed Salah’s ability to continue to rack up goals and assists into his thirties, his performances in the months since have emphatically silenced them.

Indeed, there is a fair argument that Salah is the best player in the world at the moment. The 32-year-old (he’ll be 33 just before his contract expires in June) has 20 goals and contributed 17 assists in all competitions, powering Liverpool to the top of the Premier League and Champions League tables to begin 2025.

Liverpool have made Salah an opening contract offer, but he has not yet committed his future to Anfield. In 2023, Liverpool rejected a bid of up to £150million from Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad, and it is unlikely interest in the Egyptian from the Gulf state will have declined.

Whether Salah, the most famous Arab athlete in the world, would be tempted by a move to the Saudi Pro League at this stage of his career, however, is another question.

Rounding out the high-profile potential free-agent trio at Liverpool is their club captain, Virgil van Dijk.

Like Salah, Van Dijk is proving to any doubters that he is still capable of operating at elite level into his thirties. The Dutchman has arguably been the best centre-back in the Premier League this season, marshalling a defence that has conceded at a rate of fewer than one per game.

At 33 (he turns 34 in early July), this could be the last long-term contract Van Dijk signs for a top European club. Although his future is uncertain, he has received a contract proposal from Liverpool and there is a growing belief around Anfield that he will stay. 

Kevin De Bruyne is arguably the greatest player ever to pull on a Manchester City shirt, but this year has been far from his best since joining them from Germany’s Wolfsburg in 2015.

After starting the season impressively, including scoring a goal in a 4-1 win against Ipswich Town, De Bruyne has found himself in and out of Pep Guardiola’s starting XI due to a combination of injury issues and a lack of form. He appeared to re-discover his devastating final-third quality in a 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest in December, but has struggled to maintain that level consistently.

De Bruyne will be 34 in June, just before his current deal expires, and, as reported in the 2025 Transfer Radar, he has interest from the PIF-backed clubs in Saudi Arabia, and there have been discussions with MLS and a number of the North American league’s sides, but there is also the opportunity to stay at City if he desires.

Alphonso Davies’ electric pace and attacking quality have long made him one of the most coveted defenders in European football, and there’s no wonder many of the continent’s biggest clubs are interested in getting his signature on a contract.

After finding himself in and out of the starting XI at Bayern Munich last season, Davies has responded with a solid start to this campaign, which has seen new manager Vincent Kompany’s side race to an early lead at the top of the Bundesliga table.

Davies is out of contract at the end of this season (Alexandra Beier/AFP via Getty Images)

Bayern are keen to hold on to the 24-year-old Canada international, but he is attracting interest from Premier League clubs and Real Madrid. With so many top clubs in the market for a left-back, it would come as little surprise to see Davies involved in plenty of transfer discussions with Europe’s biggest clubs until his future is resolved.

While Canadian countryman Davies could well stay at his current club, Jonathan David looks set for a move to a European giant.

The striker has been consistent with French side Lille and his national team for several years but has taken a noticeable leap this season, particularly in the Champions League. David, 24, has scored six times and provided three assists in 10 European matches — an excellent record considering the profile of the club he plays for. He has been no slouch domestically in Ligue 1 either, scoring 11 times in 15 matches, including a hat-trick against Le Havre in September.

Several Premier League clubs admire him, including Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Aston Villa. Juventus and Inter in Italy and Spain’s Atletico Madrid are also monitoring him.

Viewed as the logical successor to Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller as the German leader at the heart of Bayern’s squad, it seemed inevitable Joshua Kimmich would play out his prime years in Munich. However, in light of stalled contract negotiations between the 29-year-old and Bayern’s board, his future may lie away from the Allianz Arena.

Kimmich has had an indifferent past couple of years at Bayern, switching between defensive midfield and full-back under Kompany and predecessor Thomas Tuchel, neither of whom has been able to get the best out of the Germany captain. He won’t be cheap for interested parties, but he is among Europe’s most talented midfielders and will draw attention from top clubs.

Leroy Sane

Despite undoubted talent and athletic qualities, Leroy Sane has struggled with consistency since joining Bayern from Manchester City in summer 2020.

Sane started 2023-24 in electric form for Bayern, contributing eight goals and 10 assists in the opening 17 matches of the Bundesliga. However, due to injuries and an inability to rediscover that form, he registered just one assist in the second half of the 34-match league season. So far in this campaign, he has been in and out of new boss Kompany’s side.

The Germany international turns 29 this month, so is no longer a young talent from whom inconsistency can be expected. Still, when Sane is at his best, very few wingers can match his world-class ability to glide past defenders and deliver final-third production at the elite level.

Angel Gomes popped back up on the radars of many English fans after England interim manager Lee Carsley handed him his first call-up to the senior national team in September while filling in following the departure of Gareth Southgate.

Gomes then impressed at the base of Carsley’s midfield, showing a willingness to drive the team forward with incisive passing, composure in possession and defensive awareness. After leaving Manchester United in 2020, following five league appearances, Gomes matured in Ligue 1 with Lille and could be set for a return to the Premier League this summer.

When fit and available, Gomes is a mainstay in Lille’s midfield. He is capable of playing as a No 10, a No 8 or in the deeper No 6 position he occupied under Carsley.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin looked set to become one of England’s most in-demand forwards just a few seasons ago but injuries stalled his progression.

Across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, he scored 29 goals in 69 league matches and forced his way into England’s European Championship squad following the latter ahead of several more experienced options. Now 27, and having scored just 16 times since that 2020-21 campaign, Calvert-Lewin could now be in line for a move to re-ignite his career.

Calvert-Lewin’s career has stalled due to injuries (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)

Still, he remains important to Sean Dyche’s plans at Everton. He has started in 16 of 18 league games this season, and while his goal production has declined, the manager values his hold-up play and defensive work.

Neymar

Neymar remains one of the world’s most famous and gifted players, but his move to Saudi Arabia has not been a success.

The 32-year-old Brazilian was the headline act in the mass superstar exodus to the Saudi Pro League in 2023, joining Al Hilal after a six-year stint at Paris Saint-Germain. After just five games for his new club, Neymar suffered an ACL knee injury with Brazil in October 2023. He finally returned after more than a year out but soon picked up a hamstring problem, which has kept him out of action since.

Neymar has drawn attention from MLS clubs, namely Inter Miami, where he would join ex-Barcelona team-mates Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets on the pitch, as well as Javier Mascherano, who is now their head coach. It would be complicated for Miami to sign Neymar under the league’s salary cap restrictions, but not impossible. Right now, however, his future appears up in the air.

While considered one of Germany’s brightest prospects in central defence, Jonathan Tah’s reputation for being mistake-prone was traditionally among the primary reasons he had not yet joined a bigger club. If he could iron out those mistakes, Tah, an elite athlete who is composed in possession, seemed set for an upward move.

Under Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen, the 28-year-old has realised that promise in the past two seasons and is now considered one of the most reliable and solid defenders in the Bundesliga. He played an important role in Leverkusen’s invincible 2023-24 domestic season and established himself at the heart of Germany’s defence under Julian Nagelsmann.

With so many top teams around Europe looking for reinforcements in central defence, that ascension to football’s small circle of elite clubs could soon arrive for Tah.

(Top photos of De Bruyne and Kimmich; Getty Images)