Diego Costa, Mata, Barkley: A free agent XI of players available to sign right now

The transfer window may now be officially closed until January, but there are still plenty of quality players who find themselves at a loose end.

While last Thursday evening marked the final opportunity of this calendar year for clubs to sign players already under contract, teams wishing to bolster their squads following the closure of the window still have the option of picking up reinforcements from a healthy pool of experienced and talented free agents.

With that in mind, we’ve selected a full XI of players who are free of contractual obligations and free to sign with any club they can come to an agreement with.

Between them, members of this XI have won pretty much everything there is to win in the club game – and each player could still be a valuable asset to a new side under the right conditions.

GK: Loris Karius

DR: Serge Aurier

CB: Dan-Axel Zagadou

CB: Jason Denayer

DL: Danny Rose

CM: Ross Barkley

CM: Juan Mata

AM: Adel Taarabt

RW: Aaron Lennon

LW: Hatem Ben Arfa

CF: Diego Costa

Four years after he last played for Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final, Karius’ deal at Anfield finally expired over the summer.

Still only 29, the German shot-stopper is on the hunt for a new club – where he can finally put the ghosts of his Kviv nightmare against Real Madrid to bed.

Watford terminated the contract of former England international Rose on deadline day, leaving the 32-year-old in search of a new home for the season ahead.

Centre-back pairing Denayer and Zagadou shouldn’t be without a club for too long. Belgian international Denayer – who departed Lyon in the summer – is on the radar of Wolves.

Meanwhile, former Dortmund defender Zagadou is reportedly attracting interest from Roma.

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