In the current Championship financial climate, clubs have to proceed with extra caution when investing in new players.
With many still dealing with the hangover caused by the pandemic, managers across the league are reiterating the message that clubs have to sanction outgoings before they can consider bringing a new name through the door.
Loan deals and free transfers remain the most likely scenario to get deals done but even the players are discovering that options are likely to be more limited. Bristol City will certainly be keen to exploit the free agent market given their necessity to put money back into the coffers.
Nigel Pearson signed four players all summer in Mark Sykes, Kane Wilson, Stefan Bajic and Kal Naismith all arriving on free transfers following the expiration of their deals. It's likely to be a similar scenario this time around and there's plenty of Championship players who face uncertain futures beyond the summer.
Here we take a look at all the Championship players who are approaching the end of their deals in the summer with some potential bargains on the horizon.
Birmingham City
Maxime Colin, 31, defender
Harlee Dean, 31, defender
Troy Deeney, 34, striker
George Friend, 35, left-back
Jonathan Leko, 23, winger
Kevin Long, 32, defender
One-year options: Nico Gordon, Jordan Graham.
Blackburn Rovers
Daniel Ayala, 32, defender
Ben Brereton Diaz, 23, forward
One-year options: Bradley Dack
Blackpool
Keshi Anderson, 27, winger
Jordan Thorniley, 26, defender
Stuart Moore, 28, goalkeeper
One year options: Shayne Lavery, Gary Madine, Chris Maxwell, Luke Garbutt, Callum Connolly, James Husband, Kevin Stewart, Liam Bridcutt, Kenny Dougall, Matty Virtue, CJ Hamilton, Rob Apter, Beryly Lubala
Bristol City
Daniel Bentley, 29, goalkeeper
Jay Dasilva, 24, left-back
Tomas Kalas, 29, defender
Andy King, 34, midfielder
Chris Martin, 34, striker
Han-Noah Massengo, 21, midfielder
Harvey Wiles-Richards, 20, goalkeeper
One-year option: Timm Klose, Max O'Leary, Zak Vyner, Owura Edwards, Taylor Moore
Burnley
Ashley Barnes, 33, forward
Johann Berg Gudmundsson, 32, midfielder
Will Norris, 29, goalkeeper
Cardiff City
Joel Bagan, 21, defender
Mark Harris, 24, forward
Curtis Nelson, 29, defender
Tom Sang, 23, right-back
Gavin Whyte, 26, winger
Coventry City
Kyle McFadzean, 36, defender
Martyn Waghorn, 32, forward
Liam Kelly, 26, goalkeeper
Ben Wilson, 30, goalkeeper
Marcel Hilssner, 27, winger
Michael Rose, 27, defender
Tyler Walker, 26, forward
Will Bapaga, 20, midfielder
Todd Kane, 29, right-back
Julien Dacosta, 26, defender
One-year option: Fankaty Dabo
Huddersfield Town
Danny Ward, 29, goalkeeper
Florian Kamberi, 27, forward
Josh Koroma, 24, midfielder
One-year option: Josh Ruffels, Jon Russell
Hull City
Greg Docherty, 26, midfielder
Callum Elder, 27, left-back
Josh Emmanuel, 25, defender
Callum Jones, 21, midfielder
James Scott, 22, forward
One-year option: Billy Chadwick, Vaughn Covil, Lewie Coyle, Alfie Jones, Tyler Smith.
Luton Town
Ethan Horvath, 27, goalkeeper
Luke Berry, 30, midfielder
Gabriel Osho, 24, defender
Cameron Jerome, 36, striker
Harry Isted, 25, goalkeeper
Middlesbrough
Luke Daniels, 35, goalkeeper
Darnell Fisher, 28, right-back
Jonny Howson, 34, midfielder
Tommy Smith, 30, right-back
Stephen Walker, 22, forward
Duncan Watmore, 28, forward
Millwall
Jake Cooper, 27, defender
Danny McNamara, 24, right-back
Scott Malone, 31, left-back
Mason Bennett, 26, winger
Shaun Hutchinson, 32, defender
George Long, 29, goalkeeper
George Evans, 28, midfielder
Bartosz Bialkowski, 35, goalkeeper
Norwich City
Sam Byram, 29, right-back
Todd Cantwell, 24, midfielder
Kieran Dowell, 25, midfielder
Onel Hernandez, 29, winger
Jordan Hugill, 30, forward
Michael McGovern, 38, goalkeeper
Teemu Pukki, 32, striker
Danel Sinani, 25, winger
Preston North End
Daniel Johnson, 30, midfielder
Robbie Brady, 31, midfielder
Greg Cunningham, 31, left-back
Sean Maguire, 28, forward
Matthew Olosunde, 24, right-back
Adam O'Reilly, 21, midfielder
Lewis Coulton, 19, defender
One-year option: Ben Woodburn, Dana Amaral, Harry Nevin, Aaron Bennett
QPR
Luke Amos, 25, midfielder
Jordan Archer, 29, goalkeeper
Leon Balogun, 34, defender
Conor Masterson, 24, defender
Charlie Owens, 25, midfielder
One-year option: Faysal Bettache, George Thomas, Chris Willock.
Reading
Scott Dann, 35, defender
Nesta Guinness-Walker,
Junior Hoilett,
Lucas Joao, 29, forward
Shane Long, 35, forward
Amadou Salif Mbengue, 21, defender
Yakou Meite, 26, winger
Liam Moore, 29, defender
Dejan Tetek, 20, midfielder
One-year option: Luke Southwood
Rotherham United
Dan Barlaser, 26, midfield
Wes Harding, 26, right-back
Robbie Hemfrey, 20, goalkeeper
Chiedozie Ogbene, 25, winger
Lee Peltier, 36, right-back
Josh Vickers, 27, goalkeeper
Richard Wood, 37, defender
One-year option: Shane Ferguson, Ben Wiles.
Sheffield United
John Fleck, 31, midfielder
Wes Foderingham, 32, goalkeeper
Kyron Gordon, 20, defender
Oli McBurnie, 26, forward
Oliver Norwood, 31, midfielder
Jack O'Connell, 28, defender
Ben Osborn, 28, midfielder
Will Osula, 19, forward
Jack Robinson, 29, defender
Femi Seriki, 19, right-back
Billy Sharp, 36, forward
Enda Stevens, 32, left-back
Stoke City
Jack Bonham, 29, goalkeeper
Sam Clucas, 32, midfielder
Frank Fielding, 34, goalkeeper
Aden Flint, 33, defender
Morgan Fox, 29, left-back
Phil Jagielka, 40, defender
Nick Powell, 28, midfielder
Mario Vrancic, 33, midfielder
Sunderland
Danny Batth, 32, defender
Alex Pritchard, 29, midfielder
One-year option: Corry Evans, Ross Stewart
Swansea City
Joel Latibeaudiere, 23, defender
Ryan Manning, 26, left-back
Kyle Naughton, 34, right-back
Watford
Leandro Bacuna, 31, midfielder
Craig Cathcart, 33, defender
Tom Cleverley, 33, midfielder
Dan Gosling, 32, midfielder
West Brom
Jake Livermore, 33, midfielder
Erik Pieters, 34, left-back
Kenneth Zohore, 28, forward
Kean Bryan, 26, defender
Quevin Castro, 21, forward
One-year option: Tom Rogic
Wigan Athletic
Ben Amos, 32, goalkeeper
Joe Bennett, 32, left-back
Jordan Cousins, 28, midfielder
Gwion Edwards, 29, winger
Jamie Jones, 33, goalkeeper
Will Keane, 30, forward
James McClean, 33, left-winger
Max Power, 29, midfielder
Scott Smith, 21, midfielder
Curtis Tilt, 31, defender
Steven Caulker, 31, defender
One-year option: Ryan Nyambe, Jack Whatmough
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