With the season approaching an exciting end in Europe's top five league, here's a look at some big-name players who will need replacing in the 2024/25 campaign!
Less than two months remain before the current campaign will conclude, and for many clubs, it is an opportunity to evaluate their squads in order to plan their recruitment ahead of next season. The same can be said of players, some of whom have ambitions of trying a new challenge, while others are just simply coming of age and inevitably losing their best form.
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Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain)
Many can expect some big changes at various top clubs next season, with one such example being Kylian Mbappe at Paris Saint-Germain. It is well-documented that the French superstar has asked to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of this campaign, waiving a reported loyalty bonus he would have received if had decided to stay until June 2025. Nevertheless, PSG will now need a capable replacement for Mbappe given that he has contributed a sensational 251 goals and 107 assists in 301 games to date for the Parisians, per Transfermarkt. His insane output will be a huge miss for the Ligue 1 giants and reports suggest that the club has already earmarked the likes of Victor Osimhen, Marcus Rashford, and Rafael Leao as potential replacements.
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Arguably the best attacking midfielder of the past decade, De Bruyne is set to turn 33 years old in June and his injury record is subtly starting to become a bit of a concern. This season, the Belgian has missed a staggering 35 games through injury and illness, the most he has ever missed in a season, and in the previous three campaigns combined. Fortunately for City, Phil Foden appears to be De Bruyne's long-term successor at the Etihad and that already appears to have come into effect this season, with the Englishman having been the Citizens' best attacking midfielder. De Bruyne will be out of contract in June 2025, and it might just be that he will have no choice but to pass the mantle to Foden.
Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Slightly similar to De Bruyne's case, Salah looks a shell of himself this term, with the 10 games he has missed so far being the most he has missed in a season since joining Liverpool in 2017. While the goals haven't dried up by any worrying measure, the 31-year-old is out of contract next term and Liverpool could do worse than getting a significant fee for him in the next transfer window, amid ongoing interest from the Saudi Pro League. It's important to note that Jurgen Klopp will leave Anfield at the end of June and given the massive transition that will bring about, there's quite some merit to Salah calling time on his Reds career just the way other stalwarts such as Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino have done in recent windows.
Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona)
The oldest inclusion in this list, Lewandowski will be nearly 38 by the time his contract at Barca expires in June 2026. The Catalan giants are currently eight points behind Real Madrid in LALIGA as their title defence approaches a disappointing end with seven games still to play. Having netted 23 league goals in 2022/23, the Poland international has looked off the pace this term, with just 13 LALIGA goals so far. His apparent decline, coupled with the fact he is the club's second highest-paid player, the Blaugrana may need their new Brazilian forward Vitor Roque to come out of his shell much sooner. Barca's financial woes have been laid bare and the club has shown in the past that they are able to let go of the top earners regardless of their ability, with examples being Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, and even the likes of Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique, who were asked to take pay cuts.
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