Takehiro Tomiyasu has left Arsenal after an injury-ravaged spell at the Emirates. He now takes his place in our star-studded XI of players who have had their contracts ripped up.
**GK: Mark Bosnich (Manchester United and Chelsea)**The only player Sir Alex Ferguson signed twice, Mark Bosnich is also the only player in this team to have a contract terminated twice. The Australian goalkeeper didn’t see eye to eye with Fergie and, hours after his Manchester United deal was ripped up, he joined Chelsea.
Around 18 months later, his Chelsea contract was also terminated after he failed a drug test and received a nine-month ban from football.
Fun fact: Bosnich has one goal in 17 caps for Australia, scoring a late penalty in a 13-0 World Cup qualifier against the Solomon Islands.
**RB: Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal)**A current Arsenal player replaces a former one in Emmanuel Eboue, whose Sunderland termination is pushed out of the door just as he was following a one-year ban in March 2016, three weeks after joining the Black Cats.
News that Arsenal and Tomiyasu would part ways came out of the blue. The Japanese international only played six minutes across the entire 2024/25 campaign after being unable to shake a knee problem. He’s still injured after undergoing surgery and not expected back for at least another five months.
Given his injury woes and long, ongoing rehabilitation, combined with the fact his contract was set to expire next year (with a one-year option), both parties have decided to go their separate ways. It’s a real pity, because when fit, Tomiyasu was a proper asset — capable of playing right-back, left-back or centre-back, and comfortable with both feet. What a shame.
**CB: Gerard Pique (Barcelona)**Nine La Liga titles, seven Copa del Reys, four Champions Leagues, two UEFA Super Cups, three Club World Cups, and one Premier League title. What a career Gerard Pique had.
With Barcelona skint and Pique past his best, the player ended up retiring halfway through the 2021/22 season to save the club some pennies. As someone with many fingers in many pies, Pique knew he’d survive financially, though the same couldn’t be said about his former club.
The real reason for Pique’s contract termination was actually because he fumbled the bag with Shakira, but let’s keep that on the down low.
**CB: Daley Blind (Ajax)**Arsenal terminated the contracts of Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis in a short period of time, but for a bit of variety, we’ve included Daley Blind, whose Ajax contract was terminated in December 2022 — six months early. He promptly landed on his feet with a short-term deal at Bayern Munich.
He only played five times for Bayern before joining Spanish side Girona on another free transfer. He’s been very good for the surprise 2023/24 La Liga title challengers.
After officially leaving Ajax, Blind decided to spill the beans on what happened in the lead-up to his exit. “It got to the point where I wasn’t even welcome at the club where I’ve walked around since I was seven,” he said.
“On Dec. 26, the management said they definitely did not want me at the restart of training sessions on the 27th and it came to contract termination.” Ouch. Happy Christmas.
**LB: Marcelo (Olympiacos)**Arguably the greatest left-back of all time, Marcelo left Real Madrid in 2022 to join Greek side Olympiakos, ending a 15-year career in the Spanish capital.
He lasted a lot less time in Greece, having his contract terminated after five months — roughly 1/36th of his Madrid stay. The decision allowed Marcelo to return to Fluminense, the Brazilian side he left in 2007.
Another ex-Arsenal man, Sead Kolasinac, could have been selected here.
**CM: Roy Keane (Manchester United)**Roy Keane was never short of opinions, and he did not hold back in a notorious MUTV interview after United were hammered by Middlesbrough in 2005 — a game he didn’t even play in. The interview never aired because Ferguson and Carlos Queiroz were furious with their captain’s brutal takedown of his teammates.
Keane insisted he would have said it all to their faces. And you know what? He definitely would have.
It proved the end of his Manchester United career — one of the Premier League’s most dramatic bust-ups. No wonder Fergie hasn’t been on his Christmas card list since.
**CM: Jordan Henderson (Al Ettifaq)**Former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson lines up alongside his fellow Premier League-winning skipper.
Henderson’s move to Saudi Arabia didn’t go down well at F365 HQ, and it was more than a little irritating to see him waltz straight back into Europe and join a club of Ajax’s stature.
He quickly grew tired of life in the Middle East and made it known that he wanted out. Al Ettifaq reluctantly agreed to tear up his contract, and Ajax swooped in.
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**AM: Mesut Ozil (Arsenal)**Plenty of question marks still linger over Ozil’s Arsenal exit.
It’s easy to assume he simply fell out of favour under Mikel Arteta as his performances dipped, but there’s likely more to it. His refusal to take a voluntary 12.5% pay cut during the Covid-19 pandemic didn’t help, nor did his criticism of the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in China — which Arsenal notably distanced themselves from. That’s a conversation for another day.
Ozil was left out of Arsenal’s Premier League and Europa League squads, and his contract was finally terminated in January 2021 so he could join his boyhood club, Fenerbahce.
That didn’t go great either, in case you were wondering.
**RW: Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)**Failing at Real Madrid is nothing to be ashamed of. Failing at Real Madrid after joining for £105million with only a year left on your Chelsea deal? That’s a different story.
Injuries, poor fitness, and a general loss of interest plagued Hazard’s time at the Bernabeu. Madrid were desperate to offload his massive wages, and finally did so a year early. A really disappointing end to a fantastic career.
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**LW: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)**It wouldn’t be a contract termination XI without a few Arsenal lads.
Poor timekeeping was the last straw for Mikel Arteta, who cited a “catalogue of misdemeanours” to justify stripping Aubameyang of the captaincy — and later binning him off entirely.
Not long after signing a massive new deal, Aubameyang was released and joined Barcelona. He lasted six months before moving on to Chelsea. Arteta still hasn’t replaced him.
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Cristiano Ronaldo made sure his second stint at Manchester United ended in flames by torching everything in a sit-down with Piers Morgan.
His eyebrow-raising digs at the club’s infrastructure, manager Erik ten Hag, and even former teammates like Wayne Rooney gave United little choice but to terminate his contract by mutual consent.
He joined Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and, aged 40, is still doing what he does best: scoring goals and causing drama.
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