20 highest valued Championship players Sunderland could sign for free in summer - including £10.2m-rated star

There are a whole host of players across the Championship who could enter the free agent market when an exciting season comes to a close.

Sunderland’s own contract situation is fairly clear as none of their current first-team squad are out of contract this summer - although several key players will see their deals enter their final 12 months at the end of the campaign. The major decisions lying in wait for sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and head coach Regis Le Bris revolve around the long-term future of loan signings Chris Mepham, Salis Abdul Samed, Jayden Danns and Enzo Le Fee.

As it stands, the Black Cats remain firmly in the hunt for promotion into the Premier League and the success of their push for a return to the top flight will dictate whether Le Fee makes a permanent switch to Wearside after Roma accepted a loan offer for the talented French midfielder during the January transfer window. On-loan Liverpool youngster Danns has been unable to feature since joining on loan last month - but there has been some talk Sunderland could look to make another loan move for the striker next season if he is unable to feature during the remainder of the campaign.

However, Sunderland are not the only Championship club facing some major decisions over the future of a number of key players. There are some eye-catching names on a list of players across the division who will find themselves out of contract at the end of the season and, as it stands, will be free agents at the end of June. We take a look at the highest valued Championship players who could be available without a transfer fee this summer with the help of figures provided by TransferMarkt.

The top 20 highest valued Championship players out of contract this summer

Josh Brownhill (Burnley) - £10.2m Junior Firpo (Leeds United) - £4.3m Tyrhys Dolan (Blackburn Rovers) - £3.9m Connor Roberts (Burnley) - £3.5m Nathan Redmond (Burnley) - £3.2m Grady Diangana (West Bromwich Albion - £3m Freddie Woodman (Preston North End) - £2.8m Jimmy Dunne (QPR) - £2.8m Billy Mitchell (Millwall) - £2.6m Rhian Brewster (Sheffield United) - £2.3m John Swift (West Bromwich Albion) - £2.3m Kenneth Paal (QPR) - £1.8m Matt Clarke (Derby County) - £1.8m Joao Pedro (Hull City) - £1.8m Angus Gunn (Norwich City) - £1.8m Emil Riis (Preston North End) - £1.8m Harry Darling (Swansea City) - £1.8m Dominic Hyam (Blackburn Rovers) - £1.5m Dimitrios Goutas (Cardiff City) - £1.5m Dogukan Sinik (Hull City) - £1.5m

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