Bayern Munich
Leading players due to become free agents in summer 2026
Midseason guide to the top 10 players who will be available on free transfers in summer 2026. update
“The Best Things in Life Are Free” is a neat slogan for football transfer windows that open without fees. With the 2025–26 season at its midpoint, attention is already turning to a group of established professionals whose contracts expire this summer.
Harry Wilson remains one of the most potent left-footed attackers in England. The Fulham creative has supplied curled free-kicks, cushioned volleys and precise through balls that have become integral to his team’s play. He is entering the final months of his deal and a move away from Craven Cottage appears likely.
Quinten Timber has impressed as a versatile, intelligent midfielder for Feyenoord. A genuine box-to-box engine, he can break up attacks with aggressive tackles and interceptions and then drive transitions with incisive passes and surging runs. Out of contract this summer, he is reportedly attracting interest from Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.
Leon Goretzka has reclaimed a starting role under Vincent Kompany at Bayern Munich after a season that seemed to signal the end of his time at the Allianz Arena. With six months left on his contract, the Germany international’s future is uncertain. He has reinvented himself from a sleek playmaker into an all-action midfielder and remains a technically sharp, versatile professional.
Bernardo Silva continues to operate at the top level despite Manchester City’s transition and a focus on younger players. Pep described him as “one of the best players I have ever coached,” and although a return to Portugal with Benfica is reported as a possibility, no decision has been finalised.
Julian Brandt has quietly been one of Germany’s creative talents for Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund. His contract runs out in June and he appears to have slipped down Niko Kovač’s pecking order, prompting the prospect of a fresh start.
Rúben Neves left Wolverhampton Wanderers for Al-Hilal in 2023 and now, in his late twenties, a return to Europe seems inevitable. Manchester United have been linked.
Mike Maignan nearly joined Chelsea last summer before that move collapsed. His AC Milan contract expires at season’s end. He has a clean sheet record approaching 40% and has won league titles with Lille and Milan while offering strong reflexes and an ability to play from the back.
Bayern want to keep Dayot Upamecano but have not convinced him to extend. Several top clubs are reportedly monitoring him. He combines pace, strength and aerial presence with notable improvement on the ball.
Dušan Vlahović is set to leave Juventus after a turbulent spell in Turin. Despite inconsistency linked to managerial upheaval and limited support, he has continued to score. The 25-year-old remains a physically imposing striker with a powerful right foot and time to fulfil further potential.
Arsenal
A Year of Fractured Seasons: Top Players Sidelined Throughout 2025
Top players who saw 2025 ruined by injury: lengthy absences, repeated setbacks and slow recoveries…
2025 became a year defined by prolonged recoveries and recurring setbacks for a run of leading players. Long absences and repeated rehabilitation programmes limited availability across several clubs and competitions.
At Arsenal the season was hit by injuries to key forwards. Kai Havertz had never suffered a serious injury prior to a hamstring tear that sidelined him for three months at the end of last season. After playing in Arsenal’s opening day victory over Manchester United, the 26-year-old was forced to undergo knee surgery and has been sidelined ever since, although a recent return to training has lifted spirits. Gabriel Jesus tore his ACL in January during an FA Cup clash with Man Utd and has only recently returned to be an option for the manager.
Barcelona endured a troubled period in goal and defence. Marc-André ter Stegen returned in December but has been usurped as first-choice following the summer signing of Joan García. Ter Stegen, briefly stripped of the captaincy amid his injury woes, played just five games for club and country in 2025 after missing the first four months of the year and a further four-and-a-half months at the start of the current campaign. Andreas Christensen missed the bulk of the calendar year through five separate fitness issues and a fresh injury in December will sideline him for a number of months.
Bayern Munich saw several first-team players affected. Jamal Musiala missed the end of Bayern’s title-winning campaign before a broken leg and ankle dislocation at the Club World Cup left him out until a recent return to team training. Alphonso Davies suffered an ACL tear in March and has only recently returned to action.
Chelsea’s Roméo Lavia suffered five separate injuries during 2025 and has made just 11 appearances in the 2025–26 season to date, presently sidelined with a muscle strain. Manchester City’s Rodri never got the chance to back up his 2024 Ballon d’Or victory after an ACL injury kept him out until last May; a hamstring suffered at the Club World Cup has limited him to eight appearances since that tournament.
Manchester United’s Lisandro Martínez missed over nine months after an ACL injury in February, returning in late November. Real Madrid endured recurring problems: Éder Militão missed almost the entirety of last term through an ACL tear, has suffered two further muscle injuries this season and faces a return timeline until April 2026. Dani Carvajal has managed just eight appearances since the Club World Cup and is currently sidelined with a knee problem. David Alaba missed all of 2024 and has since been struck by four separate ailments, absent for 30 matches across the calendar year.
Elsewhere, Neymar suffered six separate injuries for Santos and Brazil and required a knee operation in December, while Tottenham’s Dejan Kulusevski missed eight months across 2025. The season underlined how quickly injury can derail momentum for top-level players and teams alike.
Bayern Munich
Upamecano’s Future Could Decide Bayern’s Move for Marc Guéhi
Upamecano’s future could unlock Bayern’s move for Marc Guehi, with Liverpool and City waiting. ahead.
The battle for Marc Guéhi’s signature next summer is evolving into a three-way contest, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich all in the frame as the England international approaches a free transfer. Insiders say one variable stands above the rest: Dayot Upamecano’s contract situation at Bayern.
Bayern have held two meetings with Guéhi’s representatives, per Fabrizio Romano, and the club’s appetite will reportedly hinge on whether a central defender vacancy appears. The story, in short, is straightforward. If Upamecano extends his stay the prospect of a Bayern approach diminishes; should a centre back slot open up, Guéhi would be elevated to the status of “serious target”.
Upamecano himself is moving toward the end of his deal but has not ruled out a new contract. The 27-year-old’s salary demands are said to be a sticking point while all options remain open.
Guéhi has tried to insulate himself from the noise. According to reports he has remained detached from speculation, “insisting it wasn’t a difficult Deadline Day” as he continues to captain Crystal Palace and develop a growing influence at club level.
Bayern’s recruitment pattern underlines why the club is monitored closely in this market. The Bundesliga champions have integrated Premier League players into their frontline, with Michael Olise occupying the right side of an attack led by Harry Kane and Luis Díaz.
Romano also assesses the wider market and deems Serie A’s chances of signing Guéhi as “impossible” given the finances required. That assessment is underscored by the summer window figures: the Turkish top flight recorded a larger net spend than Serie A during the 2025 summer window.
For Liverpool and Manchester City, the situation is more binary: Bayern’s decision on Upamecano could either clear the path for a formal bid or consolidate the domestic contenders’ chances. Until that decision is reached, Guéhi’s next destination remains a closely watched negotiation determined as much by one player’s future as by the centre back market as a whole.
Bayern Munich
The Great Runs: A Tour of Football’s Longest Unbeaten Streaks
From Union Saint-Gilloise to Leverkusen: the longest unbeaten runs across club football history. 2024
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, a handful of teams have defined eras by refusing to lose. These unbeaten runs, recorded across domestic and continental competitions, underline how consistency can rival silverware for legacy.
Celtic recorded a 42-game run between November 2016 and August 2017 under Brendan Rodgers. The Hoops went the entire league season without defeat and completed a domestic treble, lifting both the League Cup and the Scottish Cup. That streak ended in Champions League qualifying against Astana. Celtic still advanced on aggregate, but then lost five of six group matches and conceded 18 goals.
AC Milan also reached 42 games unbeaten after a May 1991 defeat to Bari. The Rossoneri went through the 1991-92 league season without defeat and did not lose until a 1-0 Coppa Italia semifinal loss to Juventus in April. That side featured Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten.
Ajax produced a 42-match sequence beginning at the end of 1994-95, a season in which they lost only once in the KNVB Cup. With Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Nwankwo Kanu and Patrick Kluivert, Ajax lifted the Champions League and saw the run end with a 1-0 loss to Willem II in January 1996. They still won the Eredivisie and reached another Champions League final, losing on penalties to Juventus.
Juventus went 43 games unbeaten under Antonio Conte, mostly during 2011-12, winning the title and ending the run with a 2-0 Coppa Italia final defeat to Napoli.
Rangers registered a 44-game unbeaten spell across the 1992-93 season, which ended in March at the hands of Celtic. Walter Smith’s team won the domestic treble, beat Aberdeen in both cup finals and finished nine points clear in the league.
Dinamo Zagreb reached 45 matches without defeat from 2014-15 into 2015-16, their first loss that season a 5-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich. HNK Rijeka matched 45 games in 2016-17 before falling to Lokomotiva and later beating Dinamo 3-1 in the Croatian Cup final to secure a double.
Benfica held the post-war European record with 48 matches across 1963-64 and 1964-65, winning two Portuguese titles and a Taca de Portugal under an Eusébio-led side.
Union Saint-Gilloise produced a pre-war 60-game run of 44 wins and 16 draws, which ended on 3 February 1935. In 2023-24, Bayer Leverkusen achieved a 51-game unbeaten run under Xabi Alonso, finishing the Bundesliga season unbeaten before a 3-0 loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final ended the sequence.
Other notable invincible seasons in recent decades include Arsenal (2003-04), Porto (2010-11 and 2012-13) and Rangers (2020-21). Beyond Europe, Al Ahly have completed seven unbeaten league seasons since the 1960s, while Johor D.T. completed back-to-back unbeaten domestic campaigns in 2022 and 2023, each a 22-game league season with domestic trebles.
