The Best 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!

Zlatan Ibrahimović - Age: 34 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Forward

Branislav_Ivanović - Age: 31 / Current Club: Chelsea / Position: Right-Back

Riccardo Montolivo - Age: 31 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Midfielder

Tom Carroll - Age: 23 / Current Club: Tottenham / Position: Central Midfielder

Sofiane Feghouli - Age: 26 / Current Club: Valencia / Position: Winger

Emmanuel Adebayor - Age: 31 / Current Club: Crystal Palace / Position: Forward

Hatem Ben Arfa - Age: 28 / Current Club: Nice / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Tom Huddlestone - Age: 29 / Current Club: Hull City / Position: Midfielder

Ricky Álvarez - Age: 27 / Current Club: Sampdoria / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Samir Handanovic - Age: 31 / Current Club: Inter Milan / Position: Goalkeeper

John Terry - Age: 35 / Current Club: Chelsea / Position: Centre-Back

Nicolas Nkoulou - Age: 25 / Current Club: Marseille / Position: Defender

Cameron Borthwick-Jackson - Age: 29 / Current Club: Manchester United / Position: Left-Back

André Carrillo - Age: 29 / Current Club: Sporting Lisbon / Position: Winger

Tonny Vilhena - Age: 21 / Current Club: Feyenoord / Position: Midfielder

Victor Valdes - Age: 34 / Current Club: Manchester United / Position: Goalkeeper

Miguel Veloso- Age: 29 / Current Club: Dynamo Kiev / Position: Left-Back

Jon Flanagan - Age: 23 / Current Club: Liverpool / Position: Full-Back

Éve Banega - Age: 27 / Current Club: Sevilla / Position: Central Midfielder

Mikel Arteta - Age: 19 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Left-Back

Caner Erkin - Age: 27 / Current Club: Fenerbahçe / Position: Left-Back

James Morrison - Age: 29 / Current Club: West Brom / Position: Midfielder

Álvaro Arbeloa - Age: 33 / Current Club: Real Madrid / Position: Full-Back

Kevin-Prince Boateng - Age: 28 / Current Club: AC Milan / Position: Midfielder

Steven Fletcher - Age: 28 / Current Club: Sunderland / Position: Forward

Nenad Tomović - Age: 28 / Current Club: Fiorentina / Position: Defender

Steven Pienaar - Age: 33 / Current Club: Everton / Position: Attacking Midfielder

Martin Caceres - Age: 28 / Current Club: Juventus / Position: Defender

Joel Campbell - Age: 23 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Forward

Steve Mandanda - Age: 30 / Current Club: Marseille / Position: Goalkeeper

Gregory van der Wiel - Age: 30 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Right-Back

Junior Hoilett - Age: 25 / Current Club: Queens Park Rangers / Position: Winger

Ron Vlaar - Age: 31 / Current Club: Paris Saint-Germain / Position: Centre-Back

Mathieu Flamini - Age: 31 / Current Club: Arsenal / Position: Midfielder

Marcos Alonso - Age: 25 / Current Club: Fiorentina / Position: Left-Back

Stéphane Sessègnon - Age: 31 / Current Club: West Brom / Position: Midfielder

Marc Wilson - Age: 28 / Current Club: Stoke City / Position: Centre-Back

Some Interesting, Unusual and Bizarre Facts about Football Players - Part Two

# In 1995 Zinedine Zidane almost joined Blackburn Rovers. However, the club chose Tim Sherwood instead, with chairman Jack Walker saying: “Who needs Zinedine Zidane? We’ve got Tim Sherwood.”

# Hull City defender Maynor Figueroa has three toes on his left foot.

# Swedish defender Jan Olsson was the unlucky player that Dutch legend Johan Cruyff made a fool of with the very first and now famous “Cruyff Turn” in the 1974 World Cup Finals held in West Germany.

# Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a checkered past growing up. The son of a tough Croatian mother and hard-drinking Bosnian father, he grew up in the Malmo ghetto of Rosengard. One of the current mega stars of football was a thief when he was a youngster. In fact he stole a lot - bikes, sweets, cars, anything and everything!

# Sir Stanley Matthews never received a booking in his 33-year long career.

# According to Mexico City police, crime rates in Mexico reduce when Javier Hernandez plays football. Additionally, and almost unbelievably, they suggest that more women go into labour than usual when the Manchester United striker plays.

# Fernando d’Ercoli, while playing for Pianta against Arpaxin 1989, got so mad after getting a red card that he snatched the card from the referee’s hand and ate it.

# Similarly in 1984, Mike Bagley of Bristol took the referee’s notebook and ripped out the page with his name on after he had been booked, and ate it.

# No doubt about it, the worst disciplinary record goes to Ricky Goddard of North Warnborough, a small village in North East Hapmshire. By 1992, he had been suspended for five out of his nine years as a footballer. On one occasion, he was banned for six months when he sneaked into the ref's changing-room at half time and urinated over all his clothes.

# Jack Charlton and Bobbie Charlton's uncle was the Newcastle United and England legend Jackie Milburn

# In 2008 Borussia Dortmund striker Robert Lewandoski had agreed to sign for Blackburn but an Icelandic ash cloud cancelled all airline flights, meaning the paperwork couldn't be completed before the deadline.

# While playing for Barcelona Danish legend Michael Laudrup participated in the 5–0 victory over bitter rivals Real Madrid during the 1993–94 season. The following season while playing for Real Madrid he aided in the revenge beating that Madrid gave Barça, the final score also being 5–0.

# Liverpool's Simon Mignolet started his career as a forward, and tried his hand at being a goalkeeper after he was dropped.

# On the other hand, Fernando Torres started his career as a goalkeeper, and later switched to become a striker.

# In 1978 Sheffield United boss Harry Haslam spotted a 17-year-old Diego Maradona on a scouting trip to Argentina and was so impressed that he struck a £200,000 deal there and then. But when Argentinos Juniors demanded more cash the Blades board refused to cough up, and bought Maradona's countryman Alejandro Sabella instead.

# Ryan Giggs' estranged father Danny Wilson is a former British professional rugby league player of the 1970's and 1980's. A Wales international stand-off, he played his club rugby for Widnes, Swinton, Runcorn Highfield and Springfield Borough.

# Dimitar Berbatov’s childhood hero was Alan Shearer, and the former Tottenham & Manchester United striker used to sleep in a Newcastle shirt when he was kid.

# In 1996, George Weah paid for his team-mates kits and expenses so Liberia could enter the African Nations Cup

# Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer most noted for his fictional stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, played as a goalkeeper for amateur side Portsmouth Association Football Club, under the pseudonym A. C. Smith. (This club, disbanded in 1896, has no connection with the present-day Portsmouth Football Club, which was founded in 1898).

# In 1999, Chelsea signed Chris Sutton from Blackburn for £10 million. The striker scored just one league goal and left a season later.

The Best Footballers NOT going to the 2014 World Cup!

On Wednesday night the thirty-second and final remaining place for the 2014 World Cup finals in Rio was secured by Uruguay. Earlier in the day Mexico completed the formalities of defeating New Zealand and so the teams heading to Brazil were confirmed.

However some high profile teams will be missing next summer at one of the biggest sporting events in the world including the likes of Sweden, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Serbia and Denmark. Along with these missing teams there are some tremendously talented players who will also absent from footballs greatest global stage.


GK: Petr Cech - (Czech Republic)
Chelsea’s stalwart will not be adding to his 105 caps for Czech Republic this summer as Cech misses out on his second World Cup in succession. Cech played in every minute of his nation's group stage qualifying campaign but was unable to secure their place in Brazil. The Chelsea shot-stopper conceded nine goals in ten matches as his side finished third in the group. However at 31 Cech should not give up hope of featuring in Russia 2018. The giant goalkeeper remains a vital player for club and country.

RB: Lukasz Piszczek - (Poland)
Borussia Dortmund's marauding full-back (right) misses out. The Pole loves to gallop forward and is great in doing so. It's a shame we will not see this mans bursting runs forward in Brazil. Piszczek scored twice in qualifying but could not help Poland out of England’s group.

CB: Daniel Agger - (Denmark)
Denmark's leading scorer during World Cup qualifying, Agger (extreme right) was incredibly unlucky not to make the World Cup, with his side the only country to finish second in their qualifying group and miss out on a play-off spot.

CB: Branislav Ivanovic - (Serbia)
The Chelsea defender was one of only two players to take the field in every one of Serbia's matches during qualifying but his side performed poorly, missing out on a play-off place to rivals Croatia

LB: David Alaba - (Austria)
Placed in a qualifying group alongside Germany and Sweden, the Bayern Munich full-back was unable to guide Austria to their first World Cup since 1998 - although he contributed more than most, leading the goalscoring ranks with six strikes.

DM: Nemanja Matic - (Serbia)
The Benfica midfielder only returned to the international fold in September after a lengthy absence but will be missed in Brazil. Last season's Primera Liga 'Player of the Year' has established himself as one of Europe’s most impressive combative midfielders.

LM: Gareth Bale - (Wales)
Ryan Giggs, Mark Hughes and Ian Rush never managed to play in a major international tournament and the world's most expensive footballer will not feature in Rio, but the 24 year-old has time on his side. He will be focusing on helping Wales qualify for The 2016 UEFA European Championships, which will be held in France.

RM: Arda Turan - (Turkey)
Turan is one of Atletico Madrid’s prized assets, having made his move to Spain from Galatasaray in 2011. The 26-year-old is also a very influential member of the Turkey squad, creating 29 chances for his Turkish teammates in qualifying. Turan also has 13 goals in his international career to date.

AM: Marek Hamsik - (Slovakia)
Napoli midfielder Hamsik is most definitely the name that catches the eye when scanning the Slovakia squad. Hamsik has attracted a lot of attention across Europe and is another key name that will be missing out on the World Cup in 2014, after Slovakia finished well behind Bosnia-Herzegovina and Greece in qualifying.

ST: Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
Currently leading the Bundesliga goalscoring charts with nine goals in 12 games, Lewandowski (right) could only help his nation finish fourth in England's qualifying group.

ST: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
The mercurial Swede, famed for his spectacular goals as well as his outrageous comments, did his bit in the play-off against Portugal, scoring twice but he could not haul a below par Swedish side to the finals.


Other noticeable absentees:

Gylfi Sigurdsson - (Iceland) Iceland's fairytale came to an end with a 2-0 play-off defeat against Croatia, which means the Tottenham midfielder will not make his debut at a World Cup finals.

Aaron Ramsey - (Wales) The Arsenal star has improved beyond recognition this season and now boast statistics to rival any midfielder in Europe. It would have been fascinating to see if Ramsey could replicate his stunning club form on the world stage in Brazil.

Christian Eriksen - (Denmark) The Denmark midfielder (right) is yet to make his mark in the Premier League this season, but he created more goalscoring chances than any other player in the Eredivisie (Dutch League) with Ajax last season.

Andriy Yarmalenko - (Ukraine) Yarmolenko can play as a winger or as a centre-forward. The 24 year-old plays his club football for Dynamo Kiev and has an excellent goal scoring record for both club and country.

Henrik Mkhitaryan - (Armenia) The Borussia Dortmund maestro has impressed in the Bundesliga this season but remains hampered at the international level by one of Europe's weaker teams. Mkhitaryan played every minute of qualifying and inspired impressive results like the 2-2 draw against Italy in Naples, but it wasn't enough.

Neven Subotić - (Serbia) Subotić has dazzled for Borussia Dortmund, but his national team didn't cut the mustard. To add to his woes it was recently confirmed he will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Stevan Jovetic - (Montenegro)
Montenegro have risen rapidly since they gained independence in 2008 and Manchester City's £22million forward has been a key player during that time.

Matija Nastasic - (Serbia)
The third Serbian defender on this list, it is a wonder how they do not have a better defensive record, but at 20 years of age Nastasic still has plenty of time ahead of him to make it to a World Cup.