Arsenal and Andrea Berta are already on top of the most tempting release clauses in world football, with Manchester United sniffing around a few too.
This is an inexhaustive list of players with release clauses which could actually viably be triggered from summer 2025 onwards. We are talking sub-£100m, not your daft £1bn La Liga jobs.
Goalkeepers with tempting release clauses
Joan Garcia
Arsenal are leading ‘half of Europe’ in the race to sign a keeper they almost landed last summer. They will be hoping for smoother talks with Espanyol, and perhaps even for them to lose their La Liga relegation battle as a £20.9m release clause would drop to £12.5m.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic
If Chelsea or Manchester City act on their apparent £16.7m interest in the Torino keeper and brother of Sergej then expect every other Ruben Amorim press conference to be spent explaining why no-one currently at Manchester United should really be blamed for releasing a teenager who couldn’t get a work permit in 2015. He is 6ft 8ins so that’s something.
Defenders with tempting release clauses
Dean Huijsen
Bournemouth spent £12.8m on a teenaged centre-half whose professional career comprised of 15 appearances for Juventus and Roma last July; within a season they are preparing for a £50m auction on their full Spain international.
Jeremie Frimpong
The homegrown bonus of Manchester City academy product Frimpong is obvious but even without it his brilliance at wing-back for Bayer Leverkusen will convince many that £33.5m is something approaching a steal.
Kevin Lomonaco
“I really like the Premier League. It’s what I watch the most. I like West Ham,” should raise an absurd number of red flags within the departments of any and all clubs charged with scrutinising the character and even sanity of 23-year-old Lomonaco. The centre-half has attracted interest from the Hammers, Crystal Palace, Sevilla and Wolfsburg in his £16.7m release clause.
Midfielders with tempting release clauses
Martin Zubimendi
It is still widely assumed that Arsenal have wrapped up a £50.1m deal for Zubimendi early and avoided all those awkward Didn’t Want Him Anyway hoops Liverpool forced themselves to jump through last summer. But they could start bottling transfers instead of just titles to put the Real Sociedad lifer back on the market.
Eberechi Eze
Crystal Palace averted the potential crisis of having both Eze and Michael Olise’s release clauses triggered in the same summer but the fine print in the former’s deal will be reactivated in the summer. There will be no shortage of potential suitors at £68m.
Matheus Cunha
Not two months separated Cunha signing a four-and-a-half year contract extension with an improved release clause of £62.5m, and the Brazilian saying he has “made it clear that I need to take the next step. I want to fight for titles, for big things,” before claiming to have been misquoted. The reality is that 15 goals and four assists in 29 games for a relegation-battling side will sufficiently tempt someone.
Nico Williams
Andrea Berta might have taken up the easiest post in world football considering Arsenal are pursuing yet another player whose valuation is certain. The sporting director just needs to fill in the gaps of persuading Williams that a £48.4m move to north London is in his best interests.
Forwards with tempting release clauses
Viktor Gyokeres
Another Arsenal target – to the chagrin of many supporters – but really any aspiring team in world football will have at least taken a look at Gyokeres before wincing ever so slightly at that £86m release clause. Sporting are among the best sellers across the globe and will back themselves to get the best possible deal.
Mohammed Kudus
After this season especially, it feels unlikely that any club will meet the £85m release clause written into the West Ham contract of Kudus. It is even higher for Saudi Arabian clubs, who do indeed have their limits.
Victor Osimhen
A record of 28 goals and five assists in 32 games for Galatasaray can be disregarded through the Turkish Super Lig rule of transfers but his age, affordability (£62.5m) relative to other strikers on the market and undoubted pedigree in Serie A cannot. Osimhen should be top of the Manchester United shopping list.
Benjamin Sesko
There is some debate as to the exact numbers which would compel Leipzig to countenance the sale of Sesko – £62m is the strongest recent claim – but less doubt about whether his record of 35 goals in 79 appearances in Germany is worth the risk on a 21-year-old.
Liam Delap
The highest-scoring new signing in the Premier League this season is one of only eight players aged 22 or under to reach double figures for goals in Europe’s top five divisions. It would be grossly unfair if Ipswich were able to bring that down to the Championship so the fact a £40m release clause becomes active upon their relegation makes sense.
Managers with tempting release clauses
Andoni Iraola
Bournemouth have quietly gone seven games without a win in 90 minutes to bring their dream of European qualification combined with FA Cup glory crashing back down to reality. But they will not waver in their determination to extend Iraola’s contract – and perhaps even remove that £10m release clause with Spurs lurking in the shadows.
