From Benzema to Icardi, moving on to Sancho, Brozovic, Mahrez, Sterling and many others. These are just some of the players without contracts. With the closing of the Serie A transfer window, there are still some important names without contracts. And never before in this transfer window have there been so many high-level, important players. These are players who have characterized European football with important performances and statistics and who would certainly be useful to anyone. But at what price? The salaries they are asking for are certainly not affordable for everyone, but unlike other years, few teams are approaching them to transfer them.
Until a few years ago, there was no free transfer market so rich in names. This is because new rules have been established, above all to guarantee greater economic balances for clubs. In practice, from a practical point of view, the Squad Cost Ratio has been established, which means that the sum of salaries, card amortizations and commissions intended for agents cannot exceed 70% of income, in order not to risk sanctions and consequently a blocked market with a zero balance: you can only buy if you sell or cut expenses by an equivalent amount. For this reason, today the player with a zero parameter is a great risk, no longer an opportunity.
In light of these restrictions, however, an important consideration must clearly be made. These footballers aged between 32 and 40 remain without a contract after experiences in rich championships such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, maintaining the expectations for the salaries they received in these leagues, but without taking into account their physical condition, characterized by reduced minutes or fluctuating performance. Among them are Alaba, Pogba, Carvajal, Ramos, Coutinho, Sterling, all returning from injuries, even serious ones. And so a major club would never think – even in the face of the restrictions listed above – of offering a three-year contract for 6-8 million euros to such a player. While a smaller club, of course, cannot afford it. And so they remain without a contract, unless they significantly reduce their economic demands, becoming willing to play “cheaply”, just to continue playing football.
The complete list of luxury footballers without a contract
The youngest player without a contract is Sancho, who at 26 finds himself without a team willing to sign him. The “oldest” is Sergio Ramos at 40, followed by Benzema at 39. Acerbi and El Shaarawy are still out of contract from the last Serie A season, not to mention Cuadrado and Belotti. Icardi, meanwhile, remains an interesting idea for some teams.
Sergio Ramos (40)
Paul Pogba (33)
Philippe Coutinho (34)
David Alaba (34)
Dani Carvajal (34)
Jadon Sancho (26)
Mauro Icardi (33)
Riyad Mahrez (35)
Raheem Sterling (31)
Marcelo Brozovic (33)
Dani Ceballos (30)
James Rodriguez (35)
Anthony Martial (30)
Wilfried Zaha (33)
Oleksandr Zinchenko (29)
Georginio Wijnaldum (35)
Leon Goretzka (31)
Ismael Bennacer (28)
Yves Bissouma (29) –
Karim Benzema (39)
Andrea Belotti (32)
Francesco Acerbi (38)
Joselu (36)
Juan Cuadrado (38)
Stephan El Shaarawy (33)
