Should They Stay Or Should They Go: Who Will Sign Pre-Contract Agreements in January?

With the January transfer window fast approaching, it is not a shock that rumors and speculation surrounding many of the world's top talents have begun to emerge. Strangely though, transfers are not the biggest source of players on the move this year as the list of players with contracts expiring in 2022 is immense. When a player's contract is within 6 months of expiring any club is allowed to negotiate with them freely to bring them in for the next season. No agreements need to be met with the player's current club. This can be detrimental to some clubs, causing them to lose players for nothing, but can also allow for shock moves that would not be possible with transfer fees involved. Here is a list of our predicted pre-contract agreements.

Kylian Mbappe

The PSG and French national team ace has been rumored to embark on a new journey to Real Madrid for the past couple of years. Having lit up league 1 during his time in Paris, and breaking records with the French team, he would be a fantastic addition to any side. If a contract agreement is met, the future partnership between himself and Benzema will surely be loved by Los Merengues. Additionally, his market value currently sits at 175M showing that the patience which Real has shown during this process may well be worth it.

Paul Pogba

The current Manchester United center mid has had a patchy career with the Red Devils. Showing promise at certain points, yet finding himself with injuries and struggling to return from them during a large portion of his time at the club. Ex-manager of the club Ole Gunnar Solskjaer showed a lack of trust in Pogba as well due to his inconsistencies, which caused him to get dropped from the 18 man squad regularly throughout this and last season. It is hard to forget the performances that Pogba put on during his time at Juventus as a youngster, as well as his great performances for the French national team even throughout his Manchester United career. The potential is there, he just needs to find a team and manager who can harness it. With his contract expiring in 2022 he is linked with clubs such as Real Madrid, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain. He still could resign with the introduction of new interim manager Ralf Rangnick, but United has released statements that they are ready for the possibility of having to let Pogba go for free.

Antonio Rudiger

The current Chelsea defensive rock could see some changes of scenery next year as he has said he is happy to stay at the club but has not received a contract offer with wages that he feels fits his contributions to the team. He feels he is at the level of players like Timo Werner and Romelu Lukaku who both receive almost 300k a week in their contracts. A move away from the Blues may be the only way to meet his wage demands and he certainly has options. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, and Real Madrid are all interested, and Bayern specifically stated that they would be willing to work with the player's wage demands. Although the blues would be taking a hit letting one of their star defenders leave for free, they have plans to sign Jules Kounde in the summer which would be a promising replacement for Rudiger.

Alexandre Lacazette

Lacazette who has been at Arsenal for the last four years sees his role slowly diminishing at the club. He has played a total of 135 games scoring 51 times but with the introduction of Mikel Arteta in 2019 Lacazette's playing time dwindled to the point where he now has only 4 appearances in the premier league this season. The player told the press that he was interested in possible moves, but would not consider any in detail until January. Until then all we can do is wait, but with Lacazzete having proven himself well before his time at Arsenal, many would be hard-pressed to believe that he would not find himself a new home at a top club.

Jesse Lingard

Jesse Lingard has had a roller coaster of a career. Having a good debut season but shortly after became a bench player and even reserve. After a couple of years having unsuccessful seasons at United, he was loaned to West Ham and had an absolutely fantastic time there. Bagging 9 goals and 4 assists during his loan spell he found form and confidence again. After the loan was over he felt ready to return to united to fight for his spot again but has soon found himself in a similar situation as before he left. With his contract expiring it is likely that we will see Jesse sign with another smaller premier league team, West Ham and Newcastle among the top options, to regain that form he had during his loan with the Hammers.

Other notable players with contracts expiring in 2022:

• Paulo Dybala

• Ousmane Dembele

• James Tarkowski

• Andreas Christensen

• Franck Kessié

• Lorenzo Insigne

• Marcelo Brozovic

• Angel Di Maria

• Todd Cantwell

• Niklas Sule