The Best Free Transfers Ever
Starting with Joe Cole’s move to Liverpool. It is the first time is Cole’s career that he moved away from London, having played with West Ham and Chelsea prior to his move to Anfield. He won three premier league titles and three FA Cups with Chelsea. His career was infested by injuries however. Most people were shocked with his move to Anfield but he still has a lot to offer as long he managed to stay fit.
Saviloa was nickname as the new Diego Maradona when he played for River Plate. Barcelona saw the opportunity to sign the player in 2001 but he never really managed to live up to his reputation. This ultimately led to Saviola becoming a free agent in 2007. To everyone’s disbelief he joined Barcelonas arch rivals, Real Madrid in 2007.
Arguably one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Edgar Davids completed what seemed to be a shocking free transfer to Ac Milan from Ajax in the 1996-1997 season. His spell at the San Siro was however a disaster. He eventually made his way to Juventus where he became one of the greatest dog fighting midfielders on the face of the earth.
Flamini had one of his greatest seasons at Arsenal in the 2007-2008 season. He was superb and formed a devastating partnership with Fabregas in the midfield. However Arsenal somehow managed to fail to agree terms of a new contract with the player which resulted in his contract not being renewed. Flamini ended up joining AC Milan for free in the end. This move however left the Arsenal fans with a feeling of disappointment since one of the best players at the club was allowed to leave for free.
After an outstanding season with Bayer Leverkusen in 2001 Ballack was one of the best players in the world. He was eventually signed by Munich. But in 2006 Bayern Munich failed to renew the midfielders contract who ended up joining Chelsea for free. He had tremendous success at Chelsea but the player has only recently parted ways with the London based club and re joined Bayer Leverkusen on another free transfer.
The most controversial transfer in the Premier Leagues history was Sol Campbell’s move from Tottenham to Arsenal, for a fee of zero pounds. The defender had previously promised he would never join the gunners but clearly he wasn’t being very honest when he said that. He had tremendous success with Arsenal, he won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups with them. He may have earned the hatred of numerous fans but that only helped him earn a lot of personal success.
Esteban Cambiasso was asked to leave Real Madrid because he wasn’t apparently good enough for the team. So the Argentine midfielder joined Inter Milan in 2004 for free. He has since been the heart of the Inter Milan midfield. He has won four consecutive Italian league titles with the team and even won the club’s first Champions League trophy in forty five years.
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