With Samuel Eto'o joining Chelsea and Kaka returning to AC Milan, who are the best and worst free transfers of all time?

A look at the deals which cost nothing that transpired into great things or a complete catastophe

Simon Rice,Jack de Menezes
Tuesday 03 September 2013 18:23 BST
Comments
(GETTY IMAGES)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The transfer window came to an end yesterday with big money deals from Arsenal and Manchester United for Mesut Ozil and Marouane Fellaini respectively.

But what about the free transfers that went under the radar? Well, the transfers of Samuel Eto'o to Chelsea and Kaka's return to AC Milan hardly went under the radar, but they were certainly the most publicised of this summers free deals.

To pay nothing for a former European Player of the Year and a Champions League final man of the match is quite a coup fir the two sides in question, but how will the moves pan out?

Elswehere this summer, Mathieu Flamini, Marouane Chamakh, Antolin Alcaraz, Kolo Toure, Mark Schwarzer, among others, all completed free transfers. But do you really get something for nothing?

Here, we take a look at the best free transfers, and some of the worst.

Click HERE or click 'VIEW GALLERY' to launch our guide.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in