Free transfers are becoming a bigger part of football with each passing year.
Ever since the case of Jean-Marc Bosman in 1995, in which the Belgian footballer challenged the sport’s judicial system on transfer rules and eventually won the right to move freely between clubs upon his contract expiry – creating the so-called ‘Bosman Law’ – we’ve seen players and clubs utilise the avenue to great effect.
From a player’s point of view, it’s their right to sign for whoever they wish when not contractually obliged to a club. Furthermore, they can usually demand much higher wages because the club signing the player hasn’t had to fork out an astronomical transfer fee for their services.
We saw that this summer with Jesse Lingard joining Nottingham Forest on a free and demanding wages of £200,000-per-week.
Whereas from a club’s point of view, the opportunity to sign rival players on a pre-contract agreement once they enter the final six months of their existing deal often provides incredible value.
So, whilst it’s controversial and often a point of real anger for fans when one of their favourite stars departs for nothing, it’s a part of the game that’s been growing year-on-year for some time now.
This summer was, of course, no exception to the rule and we saw numerous elite players make the switch on a freebie.
And to prove exactly that, the folks over at Transfermarkt have decided to put together this summer’s ultimate free transfer XI.
Check out the team below.
Image credit: Transfermarkt Instagram
Just look at those transfer valuations – and in today’s rather inflated market, you can bet your bottom dollar that someone of the quality of Paolo Dybala is going for bigger bucks than €35 million.
So, who were the real
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