Five stars who asked to leave THIS MONTH

Carlo Garganese

Updated: 21 Jan 2025 11:11 GMT
4 min read

Marcus Rashford, Man Utd, 2024/25 — © IMAGO

We are now past the midway stage of the January transfer window, and the market is now really starting to heat up.

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A number of big-name players around Europe have asked to leave their clubs during this winter market.

We look at five such players to demand an exit.

Marcus Rashford (Man Utd)

Marcus Rashford has been on the market after the attacker's controversial interview with Henry Winter last month.

The attacker admitted that he is “ready for a new challenge” amid reports that he has asked to leave the club. He has not played for United since the interview.

Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund have all had meetings with Rashford's camp in the past fortnight, with only Barca and BVB remaining.

Any transfer would likely be an initial loan move, at least for the rest of this season, with an option to buy as no European clubs can afford to buy Rashford and pay his full salary now.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)

Antonio Conte released a bombshell at the start of January as he announced that Khvicha Kvaratskhelia had asked to leave Napoli this month.

Conte said: “He asked the club to be sold. I spoke to the player who confirmed this decision to me.

“I am disappointed, I realized that it was a bolt from the blue and I am taking a step back. I would never want him to think that I have chained him here if he were to stay.

"I did it last summer thinking of convincing him of the goodness of the project but evidently I did not succeed. We are losing an important player.”

PSG swept in to swoop Kvaratskhelia for a fee of around €75 million in the most expensive transfer of the window so far.

Kyle Walker (Man City)

Man City manager Pep Guardiola released a bombshell last Saturday week by revealing that Kyle Walker had asked to leave the club imminently.

“Two days ago, Kyle asked to explore the options to play abroad and end his career”, Guardiola said.

Walker is now in advanced talks to join AC Milan, with the deal expected to be completed in the coming days.

Jakub Kiwior (Arsenal)

Jakub Kiwior has struggled for minutes this season, as he has ever since joining Arsenal from Spezia in 2023.

A utility man for Arsenal, Kiwior only regularly featured a few weeks ago when Gabriel Magalhaes was sidelined with an injury.

Since starting against Fulham on December 8, the 24-year-old has not recorded a single minute of Premier League football, being an unused substitute in all of the five games since.

Kiwior is desperate to join a club that can offer him regular minutes and there is interest from Serie A.

Ben Chilwell (Chelsea)

Ben Chilwell has long been completely out of the plans of Chelsea and manager Enzo Maresca.

The England defender was placed in Chelsea’s Bomb Squad following Maresca’s arrival last summer, but he was unable to secure a transfer away from the club.

He is yet to feature in a Premier League matchday squad this season, while his substitute cameo against Barrow in September is his only appearance so far this campaign.

Chilwell remains on the transfer list and has asked to leave the club in January but the big problem is his huge salary.

The 27-year-old is the third highest-paid player in the Chelsea squad on an incredible €12.4 million per season in wages. Juventus are interested.