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Veteran Free Agents That Remained in the Premier League 

April 29, 2025
Opinion

With the 2024/25 season drawing to a close, attention is quickly moving away from the silverware hunt and onto the transfer market. Several top Premier League stars will be out of contract this summer and, as such, able to leave their current clubs for nothing. The highest profile of these is Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who seems set for a move to join up with Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid. 

 

But while his future is up in the air, two men whose futures aren’t are Arsenal midfield duo Jorginho and Thomas Partey. Both experienced central midfielders will be out of contract in the summer, and it remains to be seen whether they will remain at the Emirates or move on. 

 

Will They Stay or Will They Go? 

 

It’s almost a shame that both Partey and Jorginho’s potential final season with Arsenal won’t culminate with the Premier League title. Both have been instrumental in leading The Gunners to back-to-back runners-up finishes, and they will have to settle for the same this season following Liverpool’s title triumph. 

 

However, they could well bow out with the one prize bigger than the title, and that is the UEFA Champions League. Arsenal are through to the semifinals of Europe’s most prestigious club competition, and websites allowing one to place a football bet online currently make the North London side an 11/4 contender for the trophy, narrowly behind 2/1 joint favourites Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. 

 

While a maiden European Cup could make its way to the Emirates this term, domestic honours remain a distant dream. The best Arsenal can hope for is second place, with those same sites allowing one to bet on the Premier League pricing them as short as 1/12 to secure their third straight runners-up finish. 

 

For the midfield dynamos, attention now turns to what’s next. Should they not remain with the Gunners, then perhaps the whopping wages of Saudi Arabia would prove too lucrative to turn down. But would it be too much to ask for Jorginho and Partey to remain in the Premier League? Here are two veterans who did exactly that at the expiry of their contract. 

 

 

Bacary Sagna 

 

Throughout his seven years with Arsenal, Bacary Sagna developed into one of the most dependable right-backs in the world. He made 284 appearances for the Gunners, helping them end their decade-long trophy drought by lifting the FA Cup in 2014. Although the club offered him a two-year deal to remain at the Emirates, the Frenchman rejected the offer, stating that the discussions did not go in the direction that he wanted. 

 

At the age of 31, Sagna was still in the prime of his career when his contract expired. Rather than moving abroad, he signed a three-year deal to join reigning champions Manchester City, reuniting with former teammates Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Unfortunately for him, he joined the Blues at perhaps the lowest point in their recent history and departed on a free transfer at the expiry of his contract in 2017. 

 

Pablo Zabaleta 

 

Many consider Pablo Zabaleta to be the best right-back in Manchester City’s history. He joined the club before its money-spinning Abu Dhabi-backed takeover, but rather than being ushered out of the team, the Argentine proved to be as reliable as any full-back on the planet. He made 333 appearances throughout his eight years at the Etihad, twice winning the Premier League in the process. 

 

Like the aforementioned Sagna, he too left the club in 2017, and at the age of 32, he could have been forgiven for moving abroad, perhaps even to the MLS. Instead, however, he remained in the Premier League, joining West Ham United on a free transfer and remaining as reliable as ever. He featured in all but one of the Hammers’ Premier League outings in his maiden campaign and would ultimately retire after three years and 80 appearances in East London. 

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