4 top players we can’t believe have had their contract terminated in 2024-25

Marcelo-Fluminense

Former Real Madrid, Rangers and Leicester City stars are among the footballers who have had their contracts terminated during 2024-25.

Whether it’s down to a bust-up behind the scenes, an injury or a player seeking an opportunity elsewhere, there are a number of reasons why a player might have their contract terminated.

We’ve taken a look across world football and have managed to find four high-profile stars who have had their contract terminated this season.

Marcelo

The Real Madrid legend is no stranger to having his contract terminated. Indeed, his contract at Olympiacos was ripped up last year after he’d only spent five months with the club.

He then returned to boyhood club Fluminense in February last year, although his return has been relatively short-lived.

Despite racking up 38 appearances across all competitions throughout 2024, things weren’t exactly smooth sailing for Marcelo behind the scenes.

The 36-year-old full-back was set to come on as a late substitute against Gremio over the weekend, but following a heated exchange with his manager, he was then ordered to sit back down.

Shortly after the game, Fluminense then confirmed that Marcelo’s contract had been terminated following the bust-up with Mano Menezes.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see where the former Real Madrid star ends up next.

Ryan Kent

Kent’s time at Fenerbahce came to an end in October as he had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

In total, he played just 68 minutes of football under Jose Mourinho before the Portuguese boss decided that the winger didn’t have a future at the club.

Kent’s time in Turkey has been pretty disastrous all around, especially when you consider that he only played 139 minutes of league football last season.

Now back on the free agent market, the 27-year-old has been linked with a number of Championship clubs as a return to England seems more than likely.

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Daniel Amartey

After being swept up in some transfer controversy over the summer, the former Leicester City man had his contract terminated by Besiktas in September.

The Turkish club had tried to offload Amartey during the summer, but he saw several moves collapse as the 29-year-old refused to leave.

“Amartey is a strange person,” Besiktas spokesman Huseyin Yucel said.

“We made an agreement with a team from Saudi Arabia, but he did not get on the plane. We agreed [a deal] with Eyupspor, but he escaped through the back door of our facilities.”

However, Amartey himself said that the accusations of him doing anything wrong were untrue: “They are completely untrue. Nothing like that happened – those allegations should be disregarded.”

Given all the drama that surrounded him, it didn’t come as much of a surprise when he left the club by mutual consent.

Samu Castillejo

Despite still having another year to run on his contract with Valencia, the club decided to cancel Castillejo’s contract in August.

Valencia had been negotiating a mutual contract termination, but after the involved parties failed to reach an agreement, the club took the decision to sack the 29-year-old.

Understandably, Castillejo didn’t take the news lying down as he reportedly intends to sue the club in order to reclaim unpaid wages.