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A skewer of stars on the market?

The list of players at the end of the contract or almost enough to make your mouth water: Paul Pogba (Manchester United), Ousmane Dembélé (Barcelona), Paulo Dybala (Juventus), Toni Kroos (Real Madrid, end of contract in 2023) are part of it , such as superstars Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, end of contract in 2023) and Mohamed Salah, whose contract with Liverpool will end in a year.

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What do the numbers say?

According to Fifa's 2021 transfer report, 66.8% of arrivals made in the summer of 2021 corresponded to players free of any contract, an increase of four points compared to 2020 (62.7%), of two per compared to 2019 (64.3%).

From there to start a new era in the small world of the transfer window?

Maybe not.

Already in 2015, this figure was 68.1%, but has continuously fallen before rising again last year.

French midfielder Paul Pogba during one of his last matches with Manchester United at Old Trafford on April 16, 2022 Paul ELLIS AFP/Archives

As for France, Philippe Piat, co-president of the players' union (UNFP), puts these figures into perspective.

"During the last transfer window, it was France that sold the most players. So that would mean the opposite a bit," explains the manager to AFP.

In January 2022, the rate of players registered out of contract was 60.4%, slightly less than in 2020 (62%).

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A post-pandemic effect?

The economic uncertainties linked to the Covid-19 pandemic could explain the figures from Fifa.

According to a report published by UEFA last February, clubs faced a shortfall of 4 billion euros in 2019-2020 and 3 billion in the following financial year, and the number of paid transfers fell by 14% overall between 2019 and 2021, with even greater proportions for transactions of more than 50 million euros, plummeting by 64%... Mechanically, the clubs therefore rather retained their players.

"With the Covid crisis, most of the time, the clubs have revised the contracts downwards. The players therefore did not want to extend", approves Jérémie Sutter, collaborator of the football support company Score Agencies.

And conversely, "the fact that the clubs have money problems has not allowed them to extend contracts and take risks on the future", continues Philippe Piat.

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The Mbappé exception?

Linked to PSG until June 2022, Kylian Mbappé could have left the capital club a year earlier, at a time when Real Madrid was already making eyes at him.

But Paris refused, at the risk that he chooses to engage for free with the Merengue.

Mbappé at zero euros, an unimaginable scenario given the rising value of the 23-year-old 2018 world champion, but which almost came true before he finally decided to say yes to Paris until 2025.

PSG star Kylian Mbappé, just extended before the end of his contract, formalized on May 21, 2022 at the Parc des Princes Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP / Archives

An exception ?

Yes, for Philippe Piat.

"PSG could have done as they did for Adrien Rabiot (who refused to extend in 2019 a few months from the end of his contract): we don't make you play if you don't extend. Because usually, It happens like that. And why didn't it happen for Kylian? Because it's impossible for him to tell him that he can't play.

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A luxury that only big names can afford?

Could the Mbappé case become a norm?

A way for players to keep their fate "between their feet"?

For Jérémie Sutter, employee of the football support company Score Agencies, "this situation benefits more players at the end of their contract but who benefit from a certain coast".

An observation shared by Frédéric Guerra, players' agent who notably had Hatem Ben Arfa under his leadership: "Not wanting to extend can prove to be a big risk for an average player", because "the proposal that we can (him) do may no longer be valid a few months later".

Naturally, "everything depends on the status of the player".

© 2022 AFP