Deal agreed to extend Premier League contracts to complete season

They have until June 23 – a week before those contracts are due to expire – to resolve the matter after the top division clubs decided unanimously to give themselves the option.

The Football League has made the same proposal to its clubs, who can be expected to follow the lead. Far fewer Premier League players are affected, with around 1,400 players from the Championship and Leagues One and Two due to be out of contract in the summer.

In reality, though, it seems highly unlikely the bottom two divisions will extend their seasons into July or beyond.

At Sheffield United, Phil Jagielka is the only player out of contract this summer to have made a Premier League start in 2019-20, and manager Chris Wilder is relaxed about the prospect of keeping the experienced defender if he is needed.

“I hear about other players at other clubs that might walk away,” he said in April. “Let them walk away. If they don’t want to be part of the football club, see you later, bye, bye, we’ll get on with what we’ve got to get on with.

“If I spoke to Phil Jagielka in 20 minutes’ time and said, ‘Listen, Jags, we’re going to extend your contract by a month, it’s up to you,’ I know 100 per cent what his decision would be. That’s the whole point of having good people at clubs.

“We’ve got two or three players that might be out of contract out of a group of 25. We’ve still got enough to stick a team out, so no issues with me.”

Leon Clarke and Ravel Morrison, who is due to finish the season on loan at Middlesbrough, have made one substitute appearance each in this season’s Premier League, and Jack Rodwell and Kieron Freeman have only appeared in the cup competitions.

Potentially more troublesome for the Blades is the issue of loan players. Extending Panagiotis Retsos and Richairo Zivkovic’s stays should not be difficult, but midfielder Mo Besic and particularly goalkeeper Dean Henderson are on loan from Everton and Manchester United, who are rivalling them for European qualification.

With nine games to play in most cases – 10 for the Blades – it will be impossible to complete the Premier League or Championship seasons without going beyond the end of June, and it is still the aim of both divisions.