PREMIER LEAGUE clubs are facing a nightmare January transfer window if they cannot tie major stars down to a new contract.
A number of the best and biggest clubs in the land face losing their top stars to foreign clubs due to their contracts expiring in the summer.
Stars with just six months remaining on their contracts are free to negotiate pre-contract deals with clubs from other leagues. And the Premier League could be one of the hardest hit by this rule.
Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold have been making the headlines over this fear, while reserve goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros is also in a similar boat contractually.
Salah has openly admitted this season could be his last for the Reds, while Alexander-Arnold has been extensively linked with a transfer to Real Madrid.
Manchester City are similarly under threat of losing key playmaker’s Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, along with back-up goalkeeper Scott Carson.
Arsenal are also on course to lose two crucial midfielders from their ranks in the form of Thomas Partey and Jorginho, while Kieran Tierney also looks set to be on his way out.
Chelsea have no major stars on the list, but do have reserve goalkeeper Lucas Bergström with just six months left on his deal as of Janaury.
Across town, Tottenham could be set to lose talisman Son Heung-min, while Ben Davies, Fraser Forster, Sergio Reguilon and Alfie Whiteman are also on this list.
Further down the table, Manchester United could end moving for some stars in this market during the window due to their new penny-pinching motivations.
BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS
However, the Red Devils have six stars who could be poached by rivals; Amad Diallo, Harry Maguire, Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Tom Heaton.
Likewise, Newcastle have eight stars on the pre-contract countdown with Sean Longstaff, Callum Wilson, Fabian Schar, Jamaal Lascelles, Martin Dubravka, Emil Krafth, Mark Gillespie and John Ruddy.
Everton are the most heavily hit by this threat, with eight stars out of contract next summer.
Many other clubs also face this threat with their stars, which are listed below:
On the other hand there is some top talent overseas who could in turn be poached by English clubs.
In the Bundesliga this includes Bayern Munich quartet Alphonso Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Manuel Neuer and Leroy Sane and Bayer Leverkusen‘s Jonathan Tah.
La Liga sees Real Madrid‘s Ferland Mendy up for grabs, as well as Atletico Madrid midfielder Koke.
Ligue 1 side Lille have top stars Jonathan David and Angel Gomes both under threat of sealing moves elsewhere, while Lyon‘s Alexandre Lacazette could also leave his club at the end of the season.
The Serie A has Napoli‘s Frank Anguissa and Alex Meret, AS Roma‘s Nicolo Zalewski and Paulo Dybala and Atalanta’s Mario Palasic and Sead Kolasinac and Fiorentina‘s David de Gea all with contracts expiring in the summer.
Inter Miami‘s Lionel Messi, Al-Nassr‘s Cristiano Ronaldo and Al-Hilal’s Neymar all also have expiring deals in the summer.
