Four players set to leave their Premier League clubs.
Player contracts have been complicated slightly by the way the current Premier League season will end, but several high-profile players look set to leave their clubs this summer. Some have agreed with temporary extensions until all of the outstanding games have been played, while others are due to become free agents at the end of June regardless.
These four players have had varying degrees of success at their clubs and, barring some last-minute negotiations, will be playing in a different shift next season.
1. Ben Foster
Despite Watford’s struggles this season, particularly at the beginning, one player who has come out with their reputation intact if not increased has been Ben Foster. So good have his performances been that, even at the age of 37, he is being touted as a potential answer to England’s Euro conundrum. On the evidence he has shown this season, Foster would still be a stellar signing for many clubs in the league, bringing ability and bags of experience.
Checking the football betting odds on Watford’s remaining games will help predict how the Hornets will continue to fare with Foster between the sticks.
2. Nathaniel Clyne
Playing lower down the pecking order to Trent Alexander Arnold is never going to be easy, is it? The right-back ahead of Clyne is generally considered one of the most exciting prospects in world football so, at the age of 29, it’s perhaps unsurprising that the latter is looking to move on in search of regular football.
Hampered by a knee injury this season which has meant he hasn’t played a single game; Clyne is due to leave at the end of June. With 14 England caps and five years at Anfield, there are far worse options in defence than a fully fit Nathaniel Clyne.
3. Andy Carroll
Like other players on Tyneside, such as Matty Longstaff, Carroll’s contract is yet to be resolved. This could be due to the pending takeover of the club, while it could also be due to a less than dream return to his boyhood club. Without a goal this season (in fact, the striker has netted only ten league goals since the beginning of 2016/17) he has done little to amend the fact that Steve Bruce’s Newcastle is the joint-lowest scorers in the League.
4. Jeff Hendrick
The Irish midfielder has been linked with a move to AC Milan recently, as well as a relocation north to Celtic. At 28 years of age, Hendrick is in the prime of his career and continues to be reliable if the largely unexciting option to Sean Dyche. Burnley have injury issues with winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson and Hendrick has done well to fill the gap, though he generally plays much narrower to support the midfield two.
Hendrick has a screamer in his locker and is a hard worker. A back-up player for the better Premier League sides, he would be a leading starter lower down the league and into the Championship.