Manchester United, Milan and Paris Saint-Germain are among the major European outfits who are due to farewell high-profile players when free agency comes into force on June 30.
Domestic leagues across the world appear increasingly likely to run beyond that deadline, meaning sides up and down the divisions could be forced to renegotiate deals beyond the typical expiry date.
It remains to be seen how governing bodies will approach the unfamiliar territory but Edinson Cavani, Mario Gotze and Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be watching closely like dozens more across Europe's top five leagues.
These are the stars and solid supporting cast members whose contract situations are worth monitoring in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
LaLiga
Athletic Bilbao: Aritz Aduriz (retiring), Benat, Mikel San Jose
Atletico Madrid: Antonio Adan
Espanyol: Ander Iturraspe
Granada: Roberto Soldado
Real Valladolid: Hatem Ben Arfa
Sevilla: Ever Banega (joining Al Shabab at end of contract), Nolito
Valencia: Ezequiel Garay
Villarreal: Santi Cazorla
Premier League
Bournemouth: Ryan Fraser
Burnley: Joe Hart
Chelsea: Olivier Giroud, Pedro, Willian
Liverpool: Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne
Manchester City: David Silva (confirmed he will leave at end of contract)
Manchester United: Nemanja Matic, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Odion Ighalo (loan ends)
Newcastle United: Matty Longstaff
Tottenham: Jan Vertonghen, Japhet Tanganga
Serie A
Atalanta: Jose Luis Palomino
Hellas Verona: Fabio Borini
Inter: Ashley Young
Juventus: Gianluigi Buffon
Milan: Lucas Biglia, Giacomo Bonaventura, Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Napoli: Jose Callejon, Dries Mertens
Bundesliga
Bayer Leverkusen: Charles Aranguiz
Borussia Dortmund: Mario Gotze, Lukasz Piszczek
Hertha Berlin: Salomon Kalou
Schalke: Benjamin Stambouli
Wolfsburg: Robin Knoche
Ligue 1
Lille: Loic Remy
Monaco: Jemerson
Nice: Walter Benitez, Arnaud Lusamba
Paris Saint-Germain: Edinson Cavani, Thomas Meunier, Tanguy Kouassi, Layvin Kurzawa, Thiago Silva
The impact of coronavirus has been devastating, with more than 18,600 deaths globally and at least 418,270 confirmed cases.
COVID-19 has brought sport to a standstill, with Serie A among the professional leagues on hiatus amid the global health crisis.
Italy – particularly Milan and the Lombardy region – has been the hardest hit, with almost 7,000 casualties and over 69,100 cases.
Former Manchester United star Young, who left Old Trafford for Antonio Conte's Inter in January, shared his own advice from Milan, where a lockdown has been enforced.
"Hi everyone, just wanted to share my thoughts given I'm currently living in Italy, the epicentre of the virus," the 34-year-old Englishman wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. "Realistically a supermarket is now your main risk at spreading this virus and even catching it. Speaking with family and friends at home it sounds like going to get food is just crazy. Remember, lockdown means lockdown!
"In Italy going to the supermarket is surprisingly calm... no fights over food, no stripped shelves and most certainly no abusing staff members for limiting food or any reason at all! And in almost every case it's usually just one person shopping for a household!
"Please read the following and share this if you haven't already, it really is time to do your bit to help tackle this awful global crisis we are in!
"Queuing to go into supermarket is standard, but not because it's for stockpiling or greed. Supermarkets have limited the number of people entering at any time so it's never over-crowded! So wait and be patient to go in if your supermarket is doing this.
"If you have to get in the lift only get in with one more person, two people per lift at one time. And stand on opposite sides of the lift and face the wall – don't breathe outwards towards that stranger.
"Always use gloves from moment you get out of your car! You don't want to touch trolleys that other hands have been on. Keep the gloves on until you are getting back in the car.
"Use a face mask or scarf to keep your nose and mouth covered. Always keep your distance at the till. Keep the trolley behind you when you unpack at the till as it stops people from being able to get too close.
"Don't unpack your shopping right on top of somebody else's, make a gap between theirs and yours so none of your shopping touches theirs. Here we can't put our groceries on the belt until the person in front has finished paying.
"This may sound harsh but treat everybody that's not in your household as if they have the virus, you just don't know!!! Most importantly, just stay safe! This is what we are doing here, it's not an overreaction, it's staying safe. And just remember others should be looking at you in this way as well. It's not horrible, it's a way of keeping your distance to ultimately help save lives."
Inter have handed Young, 34, a contract until the end of the season, though the deal includes an option for it to be extended by a further year.
The full-back underwent a medical in Milan on Friday and will hope to play an important role in the Nerazzurri's push for the Serie A title – they sit two points adrift of reigning champions Juventus at the midway point.
"Manchester United can confirm that Ashley Young has completed his transfer to Inter," read statement from the Old Trafford club.
"The 34-year-old captain, who joined in 2011, made 261 appearances for the Reds, scoring 19 goals.
"Everyone at the club would like to thank Ashley for his many seasons of service and to wish him well for the future."
The former Aston Villa star won four major trophies during his time in Manchester, including the 2012-13 Premier League title.
The England international made 41 appearances in all competitions in 2018-19 but has been used sparingly by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season.
Young has played in 12 league games, three Europa League matches and three times in domestic cup competitions.
A full-back for much of the past three seasons, his opportunities for regular first-team football have been limited by the signing of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and the emergence of Brandon Williams as competition for Luke Shaw at left-back.
Young joins former United team-mates Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez under Antonio Conte at Inter and is the third Englishman to play for Inter.
The 34-year-old was a part of the England team that reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and he is far from the only Three Lions star to try his hand in Italy's top flight.
Here, we take a look back at some of the famous English names to have sampled Serie A.
David Beckham
United and England great Beckham caused consternation among LA Galaxy fans by joining Milan on loan for the second half of the 2008-09 season. Motivated in part by his Three Lions recall and the need to retain fitness for World Cup qualifying matches, Beckham proved a hit, chipping in with two Serie A goals for the Rossoneri. He returned a year later as South Africa 2010 beckoned, but an Achilles injury ended the dream.
Ashley Cole
A 33-year-old Cole headed to Italy's top-flight following a distinguished Premier League career, so arguably provides a handy parallel for Young. However, a man who once had a solid claim on being the best left-back in world football struggled at Roma, most notably when he was substituted at half-time during a 7-1 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich with the score 5-0. After 16 appearances over the course of 18 months, Cole was released from his contract in January 2016 and joined LA Galaxy.
Joe Hart
After being jettisoned from Pep Guardiola's first-team plans at Manchester City on the eve of the 2016-17 campaign, Hart needed a quick solution. Torino were his unlikely saviours and the England goalkeeper endeared himself to supporters in Turin over the course of a season-long loan, despite some high-profile errors. It certainly proved a more successful post-City excursion than his subsequent spells at West Ham and Burnley.
Chris Smalling
If Young needs an example of a success story when swapping Old Trafford for Italy, then he need look no further than long-time colleague for club and country Smalling. Deemed surplus to requirements by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer following the arrival of Harry Maguire, the 30-year-old has been a revelation at Roma, performing superbly across 14 Serie A appearances and scoring twice. Smalling has made such an impression at the Stadio Olimpico that he narrowly missed out in a fan vote for Roma's team of the decade.
Micah Richards
Hart's long-time City team-mate Richards made a loan switch to Fiorentina for the 2014-15 season after falling out of favour with Manuel Pellegrini. The right-back made 19 appearances in all competitions but the injury problems that would force an early retirement aged 31 had already started to take a significant toll.
Paul Gascoigne
The breakout star of the Italia 90 World Cup, Gascoigne's move to Lazio became something of a saga – delayed by 12 months after he damaged knee ligaments launching into a wild challenge on Gary Charles during Tottenham's 1991 FA Cup final victory over Nottingham Forest. Once Gazza arrived in Rome, it was never anything but eventful. His first goal brought pandemonium as he headed a late equaliser in the derby against Roma, with moments of brilliance vying with fitness struggles thereafter. A broken leg suffered in training ruined his final season before joining Rangers in 1995.
David Platt
Platt did not have to contend with Gascoigne's goldfish bowl existence and the goalscoring midfielder carved out a fine career in Serie A. Signed by Bari a year after his breakthrough performances at Italia 90, Platt went on to earn moves to Juventus and then Sampdoria. He won the UEFA Cup at Juve and the Coppa Italia with Samp and, by the time he headed back to England to join Arsenal in 1995, Platt boasted 31 goals from 100 Serie A games.
Paul Ince
Way before Alexis Sanchez, Romelu Lukaku and Young made it cool, Paul Ince was swapping United for Inter in the mid-1990s. For two seasons from 1995-96, Ince starred for a Nerazzurri side during the early stages of its transformation under Massimo Moratti's ownership. He formed an impressive midfield partnership with Nicola Berti and had 10 goals from 54 Serie A outings before returning to the Premier League with Liverpool in 1997.
