Leicester City have squandered their final opportunity to cash in on players whose contracts are due to expire next summer.
Harry Winks, Boubakary Soumare and Patson Daka are among the City squad members currently set to walk away on free transfers next June.
City could still arrange departures for them in the January transfer window, but any sales would bring in much smaller sums, with just a few months left on their contracts.
If City want to avoid losing these players for nothing, they will need to agree new terms at the King Power Stadium.
While City offloaded several players during the summer window, and secured more than £75m once Bilal El Khannouss’s switch to Stuttgart becomes permanent next summer, only one of those who left was entering the final 12 months of his deal.
James Justin’s contract was due to end in 2026, but City picked up £10m from his move to Leeds United.
All of the players in the last year of their deals remained. As things stand, eight permanent first-team members are due to leave on a free.
Winks, Soumare and Daka are the standout names, as they are still at ages where they could command respectable transfer fees, just as Justin did.
Midfielder Winks is 29 and still has plenty of strong seasons ahead of him, while Soumare and Daka, both 26, are approaching their prime years.
City brought in the trio for a combined £50m, with Daka costing £23m, Soumare £17m, and Winks £10m.
The other players with deals expiring next year aren’t ones likely to bring in significant fees anyway.
Ricardo Pereira is now in his 30s and, given his injury issues, would hardly attract a major bid. Striker Jordan Ayew will be 34 by next summer, which is not usually the age clubs invest transfer money in.
With steady contracts, Luke Thomas and Wanya Marcal might bring in modest sums, but neither carried a transfer fee as they both came through the academy.
The final player whose deal runs out next summer is new signing Asmir Begovic, the veteran goalkeeper brought in as back-up to Jakub Stolarczyk.