The transfer window has been shut for a week now, but clubs can still sign players who don’t currently have a club. So I thought it’d be interesting to see what sort of a side I could put together made up of current free agents (that I have heard of) and see if they’d actually be any good. These players were available as of 07/02/2017 according to Transfermarkt.
I’ve gone for a trendy 4-2-3-1 formation.
Keeper - Chris Kirkland (35)
There aren’t many well known keepers in the list, but I’ve gone with Chris Kirkland. He’s hugely experienced and in a 16 year career to date has played for Coventry, Wigan, in the Champions League for Liverpool, and made one appearance for England. He was actually Liverpool’s first choice keeper for the 2004-05 season before a back injury forced him to miss out on the club’s historic Champions League comeback in Istanbul.
Right back - Maicon (35)
Maicon should be pretty well known to fans of European football. He was best known for playing at Inter Milan where he was a marauding right back for 6 years. During that time he was consistently Brazil’s first choice, winning the Copa America twice and the Confederations cup twice.
Man City fans probably remember him for a fairly dismal stint at the Etihad when he was heading towards the twilight of his career. In fact they’d probably rather forget him. But in his day he was very decent, and was the proper modern day full back - basically playing as a winger.
Centre back - Martin Cacéres (29)
It’s always a surprise to find a player out of contract when they’ve played at the top level and are still only 29 years old, but that's the case with Martin Cacéres.
Cacéres actually spent a short stint at Barcelona in the late noughties, but only appeared 13 times for the club in between loan spells at Juventus and Sevilla. He's since had permanent contracts at both of those clubs too and has spent the last 4 seasons at Juve.
At the time of writing Southampton are showing some reported interest in a short term deal.
Centre back - Christopher Samba (32)
Samba had about one season when he was at Blackburn when he was an absolute monster of a defender. After that he spent time at Anzhi in Russia as well as QPR, and wasn't able to recapture the form he showed during that short spell in Lancashire.
Still, he's only 32 which is the peak of a defender's career, so you'd be surprised if someone doesn't snap hin up.
Left back - Kieran Richardson (32)
Kieran Richardson has 8 England caps. That's mental.
During 5 or 6 years at Manchester United he came through the youth ranks and was regularly used as a backup left back and occasional backup left winger but he was never going to be good enough to be a regular starter. He picked up a Premier League winner's medal in 2007 and was then sold the season before United won the Champions League.
He's since spent time at Sunderland, Fulham, Villa and Cardiff, and could probably do a good job for someone at Championship level.
Centre midfield - Kim Kallstrom (34)
There was a time when Kim Kallstrom was the first purchase for anyone starting a new career on Football Manager. In the mid noughties he was a solid but probably undervalued centre midfielder who could be snapped up for a bargain by savvy virtual Alex Fergusons.
He's best known for his spell at Lyon where he played in a successful team with the likes of Juninho Pernambucano (the one who was ace at free kicks), Eric Abidal, Florent Malouda, Karim Benzema and his midfield partner in this team...
Centre midfield - Michael Essien (34)
Essien was a cornerstone of Jose Mourinho's first Chelsea team, and won the Premier League twice, FA Cup four times, and Champions League while was at Stamford Bridge.
He then went on to play for Real Madrid, Milan and Panathinaikos. For a while Essien was almost the complete midfielder - tough in the tackle, an eye for a pass and always popped up with his fair share of goals. Definitely one that got away from United's point of view.
Right wing - Charles N'Zogbia (30)
N'Zogbia could have been knocking on the door of world class if he ever achieved anything like his true potential. When he burst onto the scene with Newcastle it looked like he was destined for the top but well publicised issues with his attitude and lack of real application held him back.
Spells with Newcastle, Wigan and Villa show that he never really made it to the top. Bit of a weird inclusion in this team but I was struggling to find a right winger that I had heard of.
Attacking midfield - Julio Baptista (35)
Another player that you could argue never truly reached the levels it looked like he was capable of. "The Beast" surprisingly started out in Brazil as a defensive midfielder but was converted to an attacker when he joined Sevilla in 2003.
He then got a big money move to Real Madrid but it never quite worked out for him. He had semi-successful but largely forgettable loan spell at Arsenal - including 4 goals in a League Cup game vs Liverpool - before returning to Madrid and producing lacklustre spells at 4 other clubs. His power and pace should have seen him up there with the best but it never really happened for The Beast.
Left wing - Royston Drenthe (29)
Another relatively young player to be without a club, Drenthe was at one time the hottest property in Europe with all the big boys linked with his signature.
He signed for Real Madrid - a place it seems a few players with potential go to not live up to their potential - and fell out with Jose Mourinho, and went on loan to Everton where he fell out with David Moyes for repeatedly being late for training.
At the time of writing he's without a club, but I've read that he also fancies himself as a rapper, so we'll see how that works out.
Striker - Didier Drogba (38)
I was a bit spoilt for choice in this position - Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov are both available too - but I think I've made the right choice in Didier Drogba.
Drogba's probably pushing it a bit now in terms of his age - he's unlikely to get any offers from top clubs, but in a change from the majority of this team, at least here is a player who definitely made it to the top of the game.
Drogba was probably the most feared striker in the Premier League for a 7 to 8 year period while he was at Chelsea. He won everything there is to win the the club, including slotting home the winning penalty in the shootout to win the 2012 Champions League final. He bagged over 100 Premier League goals and I hated him from the day he signed for Chelsea to the day he left. Purely because he played for them and not us.
So what do you reckon? Ten years ago this would have been an immense side I feel could give anyone a game. Most of them are probably over the hill now, but I reckon a few of them still have something to offer the right club.