They say the best things in life are free. If that’s the case, then why are these footballers still without a club? Considering this “fantasy” team has many international caps tallied between them, you have to wonder why these battle-hardened professionals are still ‘unattached’, per se; especially if their wealth of experience could help a team achieve their goals for the season (even though some of these players may no longer be Premier League-quality).
Anyway, enough dwelling; let’s start building this team of football free agents. I opted for a 4-3-3 formation with a narrow midfield three, due to a lack of wide midfielders who are out of contract.
Goalkeeper — Paul Robinson
Many will associate the ex-England international with that bobble in Zagreb during a Euro 2008 qualifier against Croatia. However, the 36-year-old former Leeds, Tottenham Hotspur and Blackburn Rovers goalie was the premier shot-stopper in the country during the mid-noughties. However, after just seven appearances last season for Rovers, he was released by the Lancastrian club.
Right-Back — Stephen Kelly
A Republic of Ireland international with 38 caps to his name, Kelly came through the ranks at Spurs before signing for Birmingham City in 2006 (he played every minute of the 2007/08 campaign for the Blues). This was followed by spells at Fulham and Reading, before leaving the Royals at the end of last season. He was also part of Ireland’s Euro 2012 squad but didn’t manage to play even a minute.
Centre-Back — Richard Dunne
Another member of the Republic of Ireland Euro 2012 squad and their joint-tenth highest-capped player, Dunne has had a distinguished career at the top level with spells at Everton, Manchester City and Aston Villa before being released by QPR in May this year. He holds two dubious Premier League honours: the most red cards – with eight (shared with Duncan Ferguson and Patrick Vieira) – and the most own-goals – with ten.
Centre-Back — Joseph Yobo
Nigeria’s joint most-capped player will be fondly remembered by Everton supporters after a successful decade at Goodison Park. Yobo won the Turkish Super League and a Turkish Cup while on loan at Fenerbahçe before joining them permanently in 2012. His last club was Norwich City, who he had a loan spell with during the second-half of the 2013/14 season.
Left-Back — George McCartney
The Northern Irishman had two spells at Sunderland, the first of which was when he came through the Black Cats’ academy. He was labelled “Mr Consistent” by his manager, Mick McCarthy, in 2004/05 after becoming the club’s Player of the Season. McCartney signed for West Ham in 2006, before returning to the North East, then went back to the Hammers in 2012 before leaving two years later.
Central Midfield — Jermaine Jenas
Don’t let his appearances on Match of the Day fool you; this man is still a free agent. Jenas started his career at Nottingham Forest before moving to Newcastle in February 2002, where he won the PFA Young Player of the Year in his first full season. Sadly, he didn’t kick on, despite signing for Tottenham in 2005 and earning 21 England caps. Jenas then spent the 2013/14 season at QPR before rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in April 2014.
Central Midfield — Mahamadou Diarra
The former Mali international joined Lyon from Dutch team, Vitesse, in 2002 and won a league title in each of his four seasons for the French side. Real Madrid signed him for €26m in 2006 and, despite winning a further two league championships, he was plagued by injuries and left in 2011. Diarra then enjoyed spells at Monaco and Fulham, where he failed to prevent the latter from relegation to the Championship in 2014.
Central Midfield — Kevin Nolan
Arguably the best English player of his generation not to receive a call-up to the senior side, Nolan first came to prominence under Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers before joining Newcastle in January 2009 months before they were relegated. He fired them back to the top flight a year later before repeating the trick under Allardyce at West Ham in 2012. Nolan left the club by mutual consent this August and was rumoured to re-join Big Sam at Sunderland.
Forward — Andrew Johnson
Joined Crystal Palace from Birmingham City in 2002, where his goals helped them to Premier League promotion in 2004. However, he couldn’t prevent the Eagles from going straight back down, despite scoring 21 league goals. Johnson had spells at Everton, Fulham and QPR, as well as eight senior caps for England. He re-joined Palace last season but only made one FA Cup appearance.
Forward — Emmanuel Adebayor
If you were worried this fantasy team lacked an x-factor, then it could be provided by Togo’s all-time top scorer. After cutting his teeth in France with Metz and Monaco, he signed for Arsenal in 2006 and scored 62 goals in 142 appearances before controversially moving to Man City in 2009. Adebayor had loan spells at Real Madrid and Spurs before signing for the latter in 2012. He was their top scorer in 2013/14 before being released from his contract last month.
Forward — Nikola Žigić
The six foot, seven inch Serbian could be a controversial choice, but he did score 20 goals in 57 games for his country and was twice voted Serbian Footballer of the Year while at Red Star Belgrade. He also had spells at Racing Santander and Valencia before joining Birmingham in 2010, and won a League Cup medal in his first season with them. He stayed at the club until last season, despite once being dropped by then-manager, Lee Clark, for a “poor training session”.
Subs: Márton Fülöp (Goalkeeper), Stuart Parnaby (Defender), Lucas Neill (Defender), Wilson Palacios (Midfielder), Morgan Amalfitano (Midfielder), Ricardo Vaz Tê (Forward), Collins John (Forward).
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