Firmino, Benzema, Kante: 25 stars who could become free agents next summer

June 30 is a significant day in the European footballing calendar each year. There might be no action on the pitch, but that is the date when player contracts typically end, officially freeing them up to test the water as free agents.

Understandably, clubs are generally keen to tie their top talents down to new deals long before their contracts expire. However, there seems to be a growing appetite among the game’s biggest names to run their agreements down as close to expiry as possible, in order to secure better terms on their next contract.

Kylian Mbappe playing Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain off against each other earlier this year – before signing a bumper extension with the Ligue 1 champions is a prime example of how today’s stars are now maximising their bargaining power.

Liverpool, though, wanted no such saga when it came to the future of prolific winger Mo Salah. Mere hours after the Egyptian ticked into the final year on his Anfield contract, the Reds announced via Twitter that they had signed the 30-year-old to a new three-year deal, which will make him the highest-paid player in Liverpool history.

Many other clubs around Europe would love to follow the Reds’ lead and secure the futures of their own players with less than 12 months to run on their existing deals.

Failing that, some would simply like to cash-in on their biggest assets this summer to avoid the risk of losing them for absolutely nothing next June.

Following confirmation that Salah won’t be departing Merseyside in that fashion, we’ve decided to take a look at the 25 most valuable players who could still become free agents at the end of the 2022/23 season.

Data has been taken per the good folks over at Transfermarkt. For reference, players