Mbappe, Pogba and other free summer signings – and where they are ‘set to go’

The upcoming summer transfer window could be one of the biggest in recent history, with a host of Europe's best players out of contract and available on a free transfer in July.

The biggest name leading the pack of potential free agents in the summer is Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe, with the 23-year-old already regarded as one of the best players in the world. Mbappe is out of contract with PSG after spending the last five years at the club, and if he was to leave on a free transfer, it would mean Les Parisiens would re-coup none of the 180 million euros spent to sign him from AS Monaco.

As well as Mbappe, some of the other players who are set to be out of contract in July 2022 are Manchester United's Paul Pogba, Barcelona's Ousmane Dembele, Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger and Juventus' Paulo Dybala, with a host of Europe's biggest clubs all eagerly waiting to see if they could pick up a bargain.

So, if these five players were to all become free agents in the upcoming summer transfer window, what teams would they move to?

To find out, we simulated the 2022 summer transfer window using Football Manager 2022 with the quintet all available on free transfers to see who they would sign for.

Five of the best potential free agents transfers simulated in July 2022

To set up this simulation, we made sure that Mbappe, Pogba, Dybala, Dembele and Rudiger would all be out of contract and become free agents on July 1, 2022, and we then simulated until the end of the transfer window to see where each player could go.

Antonio Rudiger

Rudiger has been a star player for Chelsea since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel at the club, reinstating himself as a starter in the Blues backline and becoming one of the worlds best defenders.

It appears that Chelsea are trying everything to tie the German to a new contract, but no progress has been made. In the simulation, Rudiger was the first player out of the five to find a new club, with the 28-year-old signing for Bayern Munich on July 17, 2022.

Where do you see the five players going? Let us know in the comments section.

Rudiger played in Germany for VfB Stuttgart's and VfB Stuttgart II between 2011 and 2016.

Paulo Dybala

Dybala has been at Juventus since 2015, but the Argentine looks set to leave on the expiry of his contract in the summer after seven years at the club.

The 28-year-old has been in contract talks with the Italian club since 2020 and had previously agreed to a new deal, but after Juventus changed the terms of the contract, Dybala could run his contract down. In the simulation, Dybala was the second player out of the five to find a new club, with the 28-year-old signing for Chelsea on July 20, 2022.

Don't miss a thing with our football updates!

Want to be on the ball with all of the latest football news?

Well then sign up for the brilliant Daily Star football email newsletter!

From the latest transfer news to the agenda-setting stories, get it all in your email inbox – don't miss a thing.

How do you sign up?

It only takes a matter of seconds.

Simply type your email address into the box at the top of this article and hit 'subscribe'.

And that's it, job done. You'll receive an email with all of the top news stories every single morning.

You can find out more information on our email newsletter on this link here.

Chelsea have been linked with Dybala over the last few weeks due to his potential availability on a free transfer.

Ousmane Dembele

Since his £135.5 million move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, Dembele has failed to hit expectations in Spain, and with just a few months left on his contract, he now seems set to leave on a free in the summer.

Dembele's career in Barcelona has been massively impacted by injuries, leaving him to earn little game time over his five years at the club. In the simulation, Dembele was the third player out of the five to find a new club, with the 24-year-old signing for Man United on July 24, 2022.

Dembele has been heavily linked with a move to Man United in the summer along with Chelsea, PSG and Arsenal, and the simulation predicted a move to United could happen.

Paul Pogba

Pogba has had a curious career at United, with his constant inconsistency and injury record stopping him from hitting his top form since he signed in 2016 for a then-record transfer fee of £89.3 million.

Despite contract talks, it looks likely that Pogba could leave United in the summer, with a host of major clubs interested in his signature, including PSG, Real Madrid, and even English clubs such as Chelsea and Arsenal. In the simulation, Pogba was the fourth player out of the five to find a new club, with the 28-year-old, predictably, signing for PSG on July 30, 2022.

PSG have been heavily linked with a move for Pogba in the summer, and with Mbappe potentially leaving on a free transfer in the summer as well, the wage bill should be freed up for Pogba to arrive.

Kylian Mbappe

In the simulation, Mbappe was the last player out of the five to find a new club, with the forward signing for Real Madrid as late as August 7, 2022, with the Frenchman taking his time over his destination.

Mbappe has supported Real Madrid since he was a child, and it appears that the Spanish club are favourites to secure his signature in real life. Liverpool and Man City have also been linked with a move for Mbappe in the past, but with his sights set on Madrid, his current realistic options are to stay in Paris, or move to the Spanish capital.

Where do you think these players could move in the summer transfer window? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: Read Full Article