Northern Ireland internationals: Free agents summer 2025

  

Northern Ireland has 23 players out of contact this summer. The list below only includes players who have been called up to the national squad or the under 21 squad and are still active for Northern Ireland.

The highest valued player according to transfermarkt.com is Jamal Lewis, rated at €3 million. He is still under contract with Newcastle until this summer. Several other international regulars including; Ciaron Brown, Josh Magennis and, Jordan Thompson are all out of contract this summer. Younger prospects such as Ethan Galbraith and Caolan Boyd-Munce are also due to be free agents this summer.

Pierce Charles is arguably Northern Ireland’s first choice goalkeeper now, he is also out of contract this summer. This is perhaps the most surprising name on the list, Charles has recently become Sheffield Wednesday’s first choice having spent the season deputising for on loan (and highly rated) young goalkeeper, James Beadle. There is no doubt that Sheffield Wednesday intend to offer Charles an extension but I doubt he will be short of suitors otherwise. Two other goalkeepers, Christy Pym and Liam Hughes are also due to become free agents.

It may be unsettling to see what amounts to a full international squad of players out of contract but there are few reasons for this. Several players are with teams who have been waiting to discover their situation for next season. Stoke, Oxford United, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone are in relegation battles. Leyton Orient are seeking promotion and St. Mirren have slim hopes of earning a European spot. All of these factors determine the wage budget available at their clubs.

Several players are “the wrong side of 30” and may have passed their physical peak. It is normal for clubs to wait a bit longer before offering contracts to these players to better gauge their physical level. Liverpool, for example, waited until this month to renew contracts of their two best players.

The others are players who have struggled to settle at their clubs or have had serious or multiple injury concerns in the past 18 months. These will likely be the last players to earn contracts over the summer. Sean Goss only recently earned a contract in Slovakia while Corry Evans had to wait until the close of the transfer window last summer.

It is possible that many of these contract issues are resolved by the time you are reading this.

Do you think any of these players will struggle to find a club? Are any of these free agents potential bargains in the market?

Free agents 2025 (as of 22nd April 2025)