Footballers who might be playing their last season: It’s always a bittersweet moment when a player leaves a club, even more so when that player happens to have been a great addition to the team. Sometimes it’s a complete surprise when it happens while other times, it has been something that has been coming the entire season.
Footballers who might be playing their last season
It’s the cycle of the beautiful game and this season is nothing different. Without further ado, here are 10 players who might be playing their last season at their respective clubs.
1. Kylian Mbappe
We know what you’re thinking, the Frenchman could qualify for this list in practically three of his last seasons but always ends up staying in Paris. That might not be the case again this season though as he dropped a major bombshell in the summer.
The contract he signed a few years ago was one that was initially set to end in June 2024 but given that it had an option to extend for a further season, many officials at the club believed Mbappe would trigger the option and stay another season. Leave it to the Frenchman to take over headlines in the summer when he informed the club that he would not trigger the extension, therefore ensuring he would become a free agent in the summer of 2024.
Nasser Al-Khelaifi was furious with Mbappe and he was quickly excommunicated from the team for weeks until he clarified his situation. After what he claimed were ‘positive and constructive’ talks, the superstar was allowed back into the team but to date, there has been no confirmation from Mbappe as to whether he will stay. That has led many including ourselves to believe that this just might be his last season in the French capital. One thing is for sure though, the summer is going to be a very interesting time.
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2. Mohamed Salah
The Egyptian signed a bumper three-year deal in the summer of 2022, something many Liverpool fans were ecstatic about. He has since continued to set the premier league on fire and been a key piece in the Liverpool rebuild.
A time was always going to come that he would have to leave the Reds though and we believe that time may be the summer of 2024. Liverpool resisted interest from the Saudi Pro League last summer, but are bracing themselves for further attempts to lure the Egypt international to the Middle East in 2024.
According to the Daily Mirror, Salah will ‘almost certainly’ be leaving Liverpool next year, though thankfully for Klopp, that would be in the summer and not in January. No need to worry though Liverpool fans as with the money they will receive from the sale, they will be able to fully rebuild their team and maybe challenge City once again.
3. Victor Osimhen
Napoli’s president, Aurelio De Laurentiis hinted at the likelihood of Victor Osimhen departing from the Serie A side. De Laurentiis stated, “I have never been unhappy towards Osimhen, but there are always two of us in these things.” His contract is in effect until 2025 but as seen with Koulibaly, the Italian club are always willing to sell as long as their fee is met.
The relationship between player and club also further soured back in September after he was mocked on the official TikTok page for missing a penalty against Bologna, leading to the resignation of the social media manager.
This has led many including us to believe this may be the last season seeing him in a Napoli jersey. Given his prowess, it will surely cost no less than 100 million Euros to acquire his services, a fee clubs such as Chelsea and Madrid would be willing to meet.
4. Alphonso Davies
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is looking to reinforce the left-back position with Ferland Mendy struggling for fitness and Fran Garcia yet to impress. Davies has been identified as a primary target, with the player’s agent admitting that his client would be willing to move away from Germany before his contract expires in 2025.
Madrid have amped up their pursuit of the Canadian in recent months, and are reportedly considering meeting Bayern’s €50 million asking price to bring the left-back to the Santiago Bernabeu. The German side, though, are reluctant to sell one of their most important players but may have to cash in while they still can.
5. Luka Modric
The club legend has already achieved everything possible at Madrid and now finds himself in a position many older players do, with limited game time. This is a situation Modric has made clear he is not happy with and could be what finally makes him part ways with the European giants given his contract is set to end this coming summer. With Bellingham’s scorching hot start to life, Modric has found it practically impossible to win back his place in the starting 11, making him very unhappy.
With Saudi Arabia and glamorous Inter Miami calling, Los Blancos may be about to say goodbye to another legend.
6. Pedro Neto
The winger was one of Mikel Arteta’s main targets in the summer of 2022 but Wolves were keen on retaining their star man. According to the guru Fabrizio Romano though, Neto is set to leave the Molineux stadium next summer in search of a bigger challenge. The Gunners on the other hand have been exploring the possibility of signing a new right-winger for a while and given the availability of the Portuguese, it would not be a stretch to believe that would be his next destination.
Given his immense talent, Arsenal surely won’t be the only one in for the winger when the time comes.
7. Ivan Toney
Toney remains banned from playing until January 16 and may have already appeared in his last game for Brentford. Reports suggest that if their £60 million valuation is met then the bees would be willing to part ways with the striker. The England international has already discussed his future with his manager- outlining his desire for a new challenge thus will not stand in his way.
Arsenal have been at the forefront of talks but given that he is a premier league-proven striker, many of the big six will likely look to acquire his services.
8. Lautaro Martinez
At only 25 years old, Martinez has already played a key part in winning numerous trophies for both club and country, chief of which being the World Cup late last year. He is also the main star for his club Inter Milan and has been one of the best strikers on the planet over the past few seasons.
Only last season, he finished second to Osimhen in the race for the Golden Boot in Italy. As such, he has become a sought-after individual by the best clubs in the world such as Real Madrid and Chelsea.
Seeing as Real Madrid sold Benzema, they are yet to fill the role and Martinez might just be the perfect man for the job this summer. It would take a herculean effort to sign him as Madrid would probably have to part with almost 100 million euros. If there’s one thing we know though, it’s that large prices do not easily scare Perez.
9. Harry Maguire
The last couple of seasons have proved more difficult for Maguire in the red of Manchester United and he has found himself very low on the pecking order with the arrivals of Varane and Lisandro Martinez. With only two years left on his contract and upcoming international tournaments, the England international may be on his way out in the summer in search of more minutes at another club. Also, the decision to take the armband off him did not help the situation if Ten Hag wanted to keep him.
West Ham already had a deal agreed last summer and it seems very likely they may look to sign him again.
10. Jadon Sancho
Do we need to say any more about this? This will almost certainly happen after the massive fallout that has transpired between Sancho and Ten Hag. The 23-year-old accused his manager of lying about his poor performances in training, following his omission from the matchday squad for the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal. He further refused to apologize for this, truly setting the bridge between him and his manager on fire.
According to reports, Sancho would be open to leave on loan in January making it even likelier that he would no longer be a United player come summer. United though will be looking to recoup a significant amount of the £73 million they paid for him, something that may prove difficult.
There you have it, those are 10 players who we believe will leave their clubs after this season.
How many of them do you think will actually leave?
Let us know in the comments section.
