Reaching the end of the contract to keep the future in your hands, a new trend in football?

Lewandowski, Salah… the puzzle of players ending their contracts should feed the interseasonal transfer market, which officially opens this Friday in Spain, Italy and Germany. But can going to the end of your contract to keep the future in your hands become the norm?

The issue is addressed by the AFP news agency.

Players in the market?

The list of players who are about to end their contracts or who are about to do so makes their suitors dream: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Ousmane Dembélé (FC Barcelona) and Paulo Dybala (Juventus) are free while Toni Kroos’ contracts (Real Madrid), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) and Mohamed Salah (Liverpool) will come to an end in 2023.

What do the figures say?

According to FIFA’s 2021 transfer report, 66.8% of arrivals made in the summer of 2021 were players without a contract, an increase of four points compared to 2020 (60.7%), and two compared to 2019 (64.3%). Does this indicate a new era in the world of transfers? Maybe not. In 2015 this figure already rose to 68.1%, but gradually decreased before rising last year.

A post-pandemic effect?

The economic uncertainty linked to the COVID-19 pandemic could explain the FIFA figures. According to a report published by UEFA last February, the teams have had to face losing 4,000 million euros (4,195 million dollars) in the year 2019-2020 and 3,000 million euros (3,146 million dollars ) in the next exercise.

In addition, the number of paid transfers has decreased globally by 14% between 2019 and 2021, with even larger proportions in transactions that exceed 50 million euros (52.4 million dollars), in free fall of 64%. That is why the clubs have mechanically kept their players.

“With the COVID crisis, more often than not, teams have revised contracts downward. Therefore, the players did not want to renew, ”estimates Jérémie Sutter, collaborator of the Score Agencies footballer support society.

And on the contrary, “the fact that the teams have money problems has not allowed them to renew contracts and take risks for the future,” continues Philippe Piat, co-president of the French players’ union (UNFP).

The Mbappé exception?

Linked to Paris Saint-Germain until June 2022, Kylian Mbappé could have left the French capital club a year earlier, at the time when he was being tested by Real Madrid.

PSG rejected his departure, risking the French star choosing to sign for free with the meringues. Mbappé at zero cost, an unimaginable scenario in view of the rising value of the 23-year-old world champion, but which was about to happen, before he decided to say “yes” to PSG until 2025.

An exception? For Philippe Piat yes. “PSG could have acted as they did with Adrien Rabiot (who refused to renew in 2019 a few months before the end of his contract): ‘We don’t make you play if you don’t renew’, because that usually happens. Why didn’t it happen with Kylian? Because it is impossible for him to tell him that he cannot play”.

A luxury that only the greats can afford?

Could the Mbappé case become the norm? A means for players to keep their destinies “in their hands”?

For Jérémie Sutter “this situation benefits players in the final stretch of their contracts much more, but who benefit from a certain cache”.

An observation shared by Frédéric Guerra, player agent who had Hatem Ben Arfa in particular on his agenda: “Not wanting to renew can be a great risk for an average player”, because “the proposal that they can make may not be valid months later.” Naturally, “it all depends on the status of the player”. (D)