In a blow to both players, Jermaine Jones and Oguchi Onyewu have both been told by their clubs that their contracts will not be renewed.

Defensive midfielder Jermaine Jones has been informed by Schalke that the Bundesliga club will not renew his contract when it expires this summer. The USMNT midfielder didn’t travel with the Schalke team when they went to Qatar during the winter break, so Jones now has an opportunity to try to secure a move away from the German club in the January transfer window, or to wait until the summer when he’ll be a free agent.

Schalke General manager Horst Heldt told Deutsche Presseagentur:

“Jermaine (Jones) and I were talking on the phone between Christmas and New Year. That was when I told him we would not sign a new contract with him at the end of this season.

“He has asked me to stay at home to consider his options and there are several clubs interested in him, still we have not yet received anything concrete. But the transfer window has just started.”

Former USMNT defender Oguchi Onyewu, meanwhile, is set to leave Queens Park Rangers if he can find a club to take him. Onyewu joined QPR on a short-term contract in October, but has failed to play a single game for the Rs.

According to Harry Redknapp, who was speaking to the Chronicle newspaper:

“Oguchi’s still here and is fit, but I think he’s looking to move now. His contract is up in a week or two.”

His failed time at Queens Park Rangers is another disappointment for the defender, who played a pivotal role in the 2010 World Cup and was on the books of AC Milan from 2009-11. In August 2013, he had his contract terminated at Sporting by mutual consent.