10 Top Players Entering The Final Year Of Their Contracts
With only one year left to go, it's time for these players to figure out their futures.
With the Premier League transfer window set to slam shut in a few weeks' time, more and more rumours are starting to spread around. Huge sums of money are going to change hands in the coming days, and as usual, a lot of transfer talk and speculation has been centred on players who only have one year left on their current contracts.
Clubs often do all they can to tie their best players down with multiple contract extensions and wage hikes over the course of their careers, but sometimes, for one reason or another, it's just not possible for an agreement to be reached. And when contracts start getting closer to their expiration date, clubs often choose to cash in while they can, rather than letting their players walk away for free twelve months later.
This summer, there are plenty of truly top class players who only have one year left to run on their current deals with some of Europe's biggest clubs, and it's going to be fascinating to see whether they sign an extension or make a move elsewhere in the days and weeks to come.
10. Juan Mata (Manchester United)
Spanish midfielder Juan Mata has been one of the Premier League's most elegant and entertaining players to watch since his arrival in England way back in 2011. He spent a few years at Chelsea before making a 2014 move to Manchester United, signing a five-year deal which has never been extended.
Out of contract next year and increasingly out of favour with Old Trafford boss José Mourinho, Mata might end up moving on before the end of the summer. Manchester United may choose to cash in on the diminutive midfielder, who appeared 28 times in the league last season, scoring 3 goals in total.
Mata, once a regular fixture in the Spain national side, hasn't appeared for his country since 2016 and may try to push through a move in order to earn a few more caps before his career comes to an end. At the age of 30, there's still time left for Mata to make an impact for club and country, and he might favour a return to his homeland, with Barcelona at one point rumoured to be interested in signing him up.