Football's Finest Free Agents this Summer!

Since the introduction of the Bosman ruling in 1995, clubs have strived to extend deals more than 12 months in advance of their contract expiry in a bid to avoid losing key assets for knock-down prices, or worse still for free come deadline time.

With the Financial Fair Play rules now in place, many clubs are looking for bargains when it comes to signing players. This is why they will be checking on who is available on a free transfer at the end of this season.

A look at the list of players nearing the ends of their contracts across Europe raises the possibility of many intriguing deals.

Here I take a look at a selection of the players whose current deals are due to expire in the summer of 2015!

Sami Khedira - Age: 28 / Current Club: Real Madrid / Position: Defensive Midfield

Luiz Adriano - Age: 28 / Current Club: Shakhtar Donetsk / Position: Forward

Yevhen Konoplyanka - Age: 25 / Dnipropetrovsk / Position: Left Wing

Danny Ings - Age: 22 / Current Club: Burnley / Position: Forward

Dani Alves - Age: 32 / Current Club: Barcelona / Position: Right-Back

Alexandre Pato - Age: 25 Current Club: São Paulo FC Position: Forward

André-Pierre Gignac - Age: 29 / Current Club: Olympic Marseille / Position: Forward

Giorgio Chiellini - Age: 30 / Current Club: Juventus / Position: Defender

Ron Vlaar - Age: 30 / Current Club: Aston Vila / Position: Centre-Back

Klaas Jan Huntelaar - Age: 31 / Current Club: Schalke 04 / Position: Forward

James Milner - Age: 29 / Current Club: Manchester City / Position: Right Midfield

Neto - Age: 25 / Current Club: Fiorentina / Position: Goalkeeper

Andrea Ranocchia - Age: 27 / Inter Milan / Position: Centre-Back

Ignazio Abate - Age: 28 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Right-Back

Fabian Schär - Age 22 / Current Club: FC Basel / Position: Centre-Back


André Ayew - Age: 25 / Current Club: Olympic Marseille / Position: Left Wing

Mathieu Flamini - Age: 31 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Defensive Midfield

Maxi Pereira - Age:30 / Current Club: Benfica / Position: Right-Back

Cássio - Age: 27 / Current Club: Corinthians / Position: Goalkeeper

Glen Johnson - Age: 30 / Current Club: Liverpool / Position: Right-Back

Stéphane Mbia - Age: 28 / Current Club Sevilla FC / Position: Defensive Midfield

Nigel De Jong - Age: 30 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Defensive Midfield

Edin Džeko - Age: 29 / Current Club: Manchester City / Position: Forward

Mikel Arteta - Age: 33 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Midfielder

Loris Karius - Age: 21 / Current Club: FSV Mainz 05 / Position: Goalkeeper

Jack Cork - Age: 25 / Current Club: Swansea City / Position: Midfielder/Forward

Rafael van der Vaart Age: 32 / Current Club: Hamburg SV / Position: Attacking Midfield

Premier League Players that are Free Agents from 1st Jan 2015

Whether clubs are primed to contest the title race, battle over European places or fight tooth and nail to avoid the drop, the winter transfer window (January 1st-31st) is their chance to shuffle the squad.

Clubs notoriously play it rather cagey in the early part of the window. But as soon as a couple of big deals happen later in the window, it often sparks a mad scramble as clubs look to bolster their squads at knockdown prices.

Of course, January is also a time out-of-favour players agitate for a move away or clubs look to ditch high earners.

Pre-contract agreements can also be penned by players who have less than six months remaining on their deals, as we saw with Robert Lewandowski's move to Bayern Munich last term.

So, keep track of all the latest transfers this month with a guide to the Premier League players that are free agents and are to talk to other sides beginning on 1st January 2015.


Mathieu Flamini
Current club: Arsenal
Age: 30
Position: Midfield
International: France

Abou Diaby
Current club: Arsenal
Age: 28
Position: Defensive Midfielder
International: France

Mikel Arteta
Current club: Arsenal
Age: 32
Position: Midfield
International: Spain

Fabian Delph
Current club: Aston Villa.
Age: 25
Position: Midfield
International: England

Ron Vlaar (right)
Current club: Aston Villa.
Age: 29
Position: Centre-back
International: Netherlands

Danny Ings
Current club: Burnley
Age: 22
Position: Striker
International: England U21

Didier Drogba
Current club: Chelsea
Age: 36
Position: Striker
International: Ivory Coast

Mark Schwarzer (right)
Current club: Chelsea
Age: 42
Position: Goalkeeper
International: Australia

Sylvain Distin
Current club: Everton
Age: 37
Position: Centre-back
International: N/A

Antolin Alcarez
Current club: Everton
Age: 32
Position: Centre-back
International: Paraguay

Hatem Ben Arfa
Current club: Hull City (on loan from Newcastle)
Age: 27
Position: Winger
International: France

Anthony Knockaert (right)
Current club: Leicester City
Age: 23
Position: Midfield
International: France U21

James Milner
Current club: Man City
Age: 28
Position: Midfield
International: England

Martin Demichelis
Current club: Man City
Age: 34
Position: Midfield
International: Argentina

Michael Carrick
Current club: Man Utd
Age: 33
Position: Midfield
International: England

Tom Cleverley (right)
Current club: Aston Villa (on loan from Man Utd)
Age: 25
Position: Midfield
International: England

Anderson
Current club: Man Utd
Age: 26
Position: Midfield
International: Brazil

Jonás Gutiérrez
Current club: Newcastle
Age: 31
Position: Midfield
International: Argentina

Rio Ferdinand
Current club: QPR
Age: 36
Position: Centre-back
International: England

Joey Barton
Current club: QPR
Age: 32
Position: Midfield
International: England

Bobby Zamora
Current club: QPR
Age: 33
Position: Striker
International: England

Jack Cork (right)
Current club: Southampton
Age: 25
Position: Midfield/Striker
International: England U21

Maya Yoshida
Current club: Southampton
Age: 26
Position: Centre-back
International: Japan

Peter Crouch
Current club: Stoke
Age: 33
Position: Striker
International: England

Glenn Whelan
Current club: Stoke
Age: 30
Position: Midfield
International: Republic of Ireland

Wes Brown
Current club: Sunderland
Age: 35
Position: Defender
International: England

Gerhard Tremmel
Current club: Swansea
Age: 36
Position: Goalkeeper
International: N/A

Younes Kaboul
Current club: Tottenham
Age: 28
Position: Centre-back
International: France

Ravel Morrison (right)
Current club: West Ham
Age: 21
Position: Cardiff (on loan from West Ham)
International: England U21

Winston Reid
Current club: West ham
Age: 26
Position: Defender
International: New Zealand


# Information sources: Thanks to The Telegraph Newspaper and The Mail Online.