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Serie A’s (expiring contract) class of 2018

Serie A’s (expiring contract) class of 2018

Two of my favourite sayings in sports are “better to sell a player a year too soon rather than a year to late” and “some of the best deals are the ones you don’t make”- and while both of them can be true at the same, it can become very tricky for clubs to decide what to do with players going into the last year of their contracts.
 
In Serie A there are numerous intriguing players that will find themselves in this predicament, which should ensure a lot of activity in the upcoming transfer window- clubs will have to decide if it’s better to cash in or risk losing a key member of their squad for nothing the following season. While the list is headlined by arguably the best young prospect in Italy and one of Serie A’s top goal scorers this season, there are many players that could help clubs looking to take advantage of an expiring contract.
 
All of the complications surrounding the supposed sale of Milan have further clouded Gigio Donnarumma’s future. The keeper turned 18 a few weeks ago so now he can finally sign a long term deal, and despite Silvio Berlusconi’s recent quotes on the fact that Milan considers him completely off the market, now that there is just a year left on his current contract, Mino Raiola has most of the leverage. The super agent has made it very clear that he wants to know what Milan will look like in the future before his client commits to the project long term.


 
I know that for fans in these cases it’s much easier to direct their anger at the supposed greedy agent rather than the players the support, but it’s important to remember that anyone who hires Raiola knows exactly what they’ll be getting. While Donnarumma is obviously very young, he comes from a family that already featured a professional player, so it’s hard to say Gigio and his parents didn’t know what they were doing when they hired Raiola. If Berlusconi stays in charge at Milan and commits to creating a young and Italian squad, you would think Raiola and Donnarumma may want to leave for a more ambitious project.
 
While Donnarumma has been linked to Juventus by some (seems very unlikely to me for many reasons), it’s much more likely that the bianconeri will land his teammate Mattia De Sciglio- a player who could help replace Lichtsteiner who also has a contract expiring in 2018. Milan will also have to decide if they want to give an extension to Gabriel Paletta - the former Parma centre back has been a good partner for Alessio Romagnoli,  but his age may be held against him should Milan decide to focus either on world class players or go with a young and Italian project.
 
On the incoming side, the rossoneri could make another attempt to sign Milan Badelj now that he only has one year left on his contract. It will be interesting to see if his current club Fiorentina is willing to get past the bitterness of Vincenzo Montella’s tumultuous departure from a few years ago and send their former boss a player that would certainly help their midfield- so Milan could just wait until 2018 and sign him on a free transfer.
 
While Milan has to deal with the impending free agency of a great prospect like Gigio Donnarumma, Napoli is faced with the possibility of one of Serie A’s top scorer leaving. A few months ago it appeared that the Dries Mertens was about to re-sign with the partenopei, and this was after he had turned down a huge offer from China. But now Mertens’ performances have peaked the interest of top clubs in Europe, and considering that the Belgian attacker will turn 30 soon it may make sense for him to make a jump to a super rich club - Napoli could cash in on an older player and put more efforts in extending Lorenzo Insigne’s contract and keeping  Kalidou Koulibaly.


 
Napoli’s defence may also look quite different next season. Keeper Pepe Reina has been struggling recently, and now that he has just one year left on his deal the club will almost certainly bring a younger man in to compete with him. In addition it’s looking very likely that Faouzi Ghoulam will be sold this summer since the parties are far off on agreeing to terms on an extension - considering the lack of quality left backs on the market, Napoli should be able to get a good return but it will also be difficult to find an upgrade.  
 
Lazio has to deal with the impending free agency of three key players in Stefan De Vrij, Lucas Biglia and Keita Balde. The Dutch centre back will certainly be sold this summer, his value will however be hurt by fact he has been injury prone in recent years- he still has suitors in the Premier League, but Inter may be the favourite since they have completed a few deals with Lazio in recent years (Hernanes and Candreva, two players who also had expiring contracts).
 
While captain Biglia will almost certainly extend his contract, the same cannot be said for Keita Balde. The former Barcelona youth team product could end up at Juventus now that the bianconeri have cooled off on the idea of trying (once again) to convince Domenico Berardi to move to Turin, he had also been linked to Milan, Monaco and some Premier League clubs in the past so there certainly will be a significant market for him.


 
Inter has a trio of players that they’ll look to extend now that their deals expire in 2018. Gary Medel has become even more valuable to the club as a centre back after Gagliardini’s arrival, Danilo D’Ambrosio has had a renaissance under manager Pioli and has recently made it to Italy’s senior squad and Miranda continues to be the leader of the nerazzurri’s defence- all three are expected to stay at Inter.
 
Let’s close with some intriguing players on various teams, starting with Sassuolo centre half Francesco Acerbi who was heavily linked to Leicester City during the January transfer window - the defender will likely be sold this summer so he can take the next step in his career. Another intriguing option for a team looking for help on defence is Atalanta centre back Toloi who has been overshadowed by Caldara’s emergence. 
 
While Genoa sold already two key players during the January window, they were able to hold on to Diego Laxalt, one of the best left wing backs in Serie A - but now that his contract expires in 2018 he will almost certainly be sold in the summer. Just like Mertens, Valter Birsa also turned down a rich offer from China recently but with just one year left on his contract with Chievo he could be on his way out of Maran’s squad.


 
There are certainly many intriguing options when it comes to players with expiring contracts, for some teams waiting this long to either extend or sell these players will probably make them wish that they had sold them a year too soon rather than a year too late…
 
 
David Amoyal is the manager of the English page on Gianluca Di Marzio's website where he also writes weekly articles. David covers transfer news for ESPN, and has appeared on numerous radio shows on Sirius XM in the US as well as TalkSport in the UK. David is the former editor in chief of Vavel USA and his articles have been featured in many sites around the world. You can follow him on Twitter @DavidAmoyal