With Premier League players back in training and Premier League bosses remaining cautiously confident of a June resumption, the question of squad availability in England are around Europe is becoming a lot more real.
Across the continent, players playing out their contracts with clubs and available to sign on a Bosman deal with another team will have their contracts expire during the rescheduled season. June 30th is the standard date for contracts to expire, and once that happens, players will be free agents.
While some players, like Olivier Giroud, have already signed a season long extension, and others, such as Willian, have indicated they would be willing to sign short term extensions to finish out the season, personal terms will have to be reached on each contract and it's difficult to see everything going smoothly across the board. And will a short term extension in any way affect their ability to move club in an as yet undefined off-season?
For some clubs, like Burnley and Newcastle, the issue will be having a big enough squad in the punishing new schedule, while relegation threatened Watford risk losing both their goalkeepers and fellow strugglers Aston Villa could be without their only backup strikers.
The list of the best players in the Premier League and around Europe whose contracts expire on June 30th is quite impressive and would have a big impact on the outcome of the season if they were to leave their clubs.
Premier League Players With Expiring Contracts:
Manchester City:
David Silva, Claudio Bravo
Chelsea:
Willian, Pedro
Liverpool:
Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne
Spurs:
Jan Vertonghen, Japhet Tanganga
Newcastle:
Javier Manquillo, Matthew Longstaff, Andy Carroll, Karl Darlow, Rob Eliot, Jack Colback
Burnley:
Jeff Hendrick, Ashley Westwood, Joe Hart, Aaron Lennon, Phil Bardsley
Bournemouth:
Ryan Fraser
Jordan Ibe
Sheffield United
John Lundstram
Southampton:
Shane Long
They'd be out of contract so yes they would. Imagine Shane Long leaving Southampton in July and then scoring the goal that sends them down in September in that same season
— Darren (@Dazzathfc1882) April 29, 2020
Watford:
Ben Foster, Heurelho Gomes
Aston Villa:
Keinan Davis, Borja Baston
European Players With Expiring Contracts:
Thomas Meunier - PSG
Dries Mertens - Napoli
Edinson Cavani - PSG
Malang Sarr - Nice
Artem Dzyuba - Zenit
Layvin Kurzawa - PSG
Tanguy Kouassi - PSG
Matio Gotze - Dortmund
Benjamin Stambouli - Schalke
Jose Callejon - Napoli
Giacomo Bonaventura - AC Milan
Walter Benitez - Nice
It will be interesting to see how all of this irons out if and when the season resumes.
