Chelsea dominate the list – The players with the longest contracts in the top five leagues

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Four players with 8+ years 

In years gone by, a five year contract was usually the longest a club would hand out to a player, and even those lengths of deals were usually reserved for younger stars. Nowadays with pressure from PSR (Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability laws) and FFP (Financial Fair Play) clubs are keen to spread the cost of their player’s wages over a number of years to comply. This has led to some clubs handing out huge lengthy contracts to stars they want to tie down. Some teams have been utilising this a lot more than others.

Of course there are other reasons too – in some cases clubs may have so much faith in a player that they wanted his long-term future committed to the club. With all this in mind, which players are currently sitting on the longest contracts in Europe’s top five leagues? Here at Transfermarkt, we have compiled a list of the players with seven or more years left for clubs in either the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga or Ligue 1, and, unsurprisingly, Chelsea dominate proceedings.

Last week, 22-year-old attacker Cole Palmer signed a new Chelsea contract to extend his stay at Stamford Bridge until 2033, and it leaves him with the outright longest contract in the top five leagues. He has committed the next nine years to the Blues and will be 31 years old when that contract expires. Three players currently are tied down to an eight year contract – Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández’s current deal runs until June 2032, as does Athletic Club duo Dani Vivian and Oihan Sancet. There are then 11 players with seven years of contract left at their clubs, and some more Chelsea stars crop up.

New signings in goalkeeper Filip Jørgensen, hybrid full-back and midfielder Renato Veiga, and winger Pedro Neto are all tied down until June 2031 on seven year contracts. That trio join midfielder Moisés Caicedo, winger Mykhaylo Mudryk, and striker Nicolas Jackson on seven year deals. Two of West Ham’s new summer signings were also handed seven year deals in defenders Max Kilman and Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Another Athletic Club star on the list is Beñat Prados on a seven year contract, as well as Barcelona’s Vitor Roque, and Osasuna’s Jon Moncayola.

Eight of the 15 players on 7+ year deals are Chelsea players. If you combine all the contracts in the current Chelsea squad it equates to a grand total of 196 years. The next closest team to that figure in the Premier League is Tottenham at 97 years. There’s no doubt the Blues have a lot of talent tied down to the club, but if the time comes where they want to sell some of them, getting those on huge long contracts off the wage bill may prove to be difficult. No Bundesliga or Ligue 1 players feature on the players with 7+ year contracts.