Of those players out of contract, Jermaine Pennant, Armand Traore, Theofanis Gekas and Pele are all loan signings. In my opinion the only one worth keeping out of them lot is Pennant for the right price but I'm sure other clubs will be after him too.
Armand Traore will return to Arsenal to continue his football education whilst nobody can judge either Gekas or Pele as they haven't mustered a single appearance between them. I think the Greek might be given a chance as Guy Whittingham seems to rate him but I wouldn't be surprised to see Pele return to Portugal.
Djimi Traore and Lauren are certainties to leave regardless of what division we stay in having fallen well out of favour whilst the same could be said for Richard Duffy who has been here over five years now and has failed to make the grade.
Glen Little has returned to Reading for the rest of the season and given his injury history I can't see him playing another game for Pompey unless we're in the Championship and ditto that for Jerome Thomas who I forgot even played for us until I was reminded the other day!
Three youth players in goalkeeper Jon Stewart, defender Joel Ward and midfielder Matt Ritchie are also out of contract. I can't comment on Stewart as I've never heard of him but Ward is said to be doing fairly well with the Cherries whilst Ritchie has played a huge part in Dagenham & Redbridge's successful season so far.
I'd expect all three youngsters to sign a new deal and so now we come to the more interesting dilemmas the club face in the summer with some key names out of contract.
The names don't come much bigger than Pompey captain Sol Campbell who has been very inconsistent during the campaign. Whilst he is still a commanding prescence and good in the air, his 35-year-old legs are ageing badly and players with pace now often get the better of him.
But perhaps the biggest problem is his £100,000-a-week wages which is far too much to be paying anyone, let alone a defender well past his best. The wage bill reportedly needs to be trimmed by a quarter and hence I see Campbell leaving in the summer after his worthwhile contribution to the club.
Speaking of contributions, no single player has offered more to PFC during their time here than Linvoy Primus. I wonder if he will ever play for the first team again because of his past injuries but if not then he should be offered a role at the club in some capacity because of the respect he has.
Mind you, if the worst was to happen and Pompey were relegated then perhaps Linvoy could be the stalwert of a promotion push for one more season?
I'm undecided about the futures of Noe Pamarot and Kanu. Pamarot needs to stay if we're relegated because he's a solid player but at the top level he is inconsistent and occasionally error prone. If I had to make a decision I'd keep him as a squad player if he was willing to settle for that role.
At 33-years-old I still feel Kanu has something to offer and I know I'm in the minority here. I agree that he's slow and injury prone but his skill at holding up the ball and the way he can shrug off defenders offers us a different dimension and of course he can pop up with the occasional goal too. I think he'll leave though because his wages are simply too high and I don't think he'd be prepared to take a significant pay cut.
The final two players out of contract are Hermann Hreidarsson and Sean Davis. Both players have been heavily linked with moves away from the club during this season but we need to do everything we can to keep them at Pompey.
Both have proved their worth this season and my only questions would be if Hermann's ageing legs could handle another season at the top level and if Davis isn't tempted by another club come the summer.
Providing we don't get relegated I'm quietly confident that Davis will commit despite contract talks stalling in January. I think the Hermannator might find the move to Celtic or Rangers too hard to resist but I have my fingers crossed.
Whatever happens in the summer, the manager (whoever that may be) will have a huge rebuilding job on their hands.