The five best free agents in each position available after the 2024 summer transfer window

With the transfer deadline having passed, Premier League clubs could be considering which free agents they could sign if they still have any gaps in their squad.

Buying players will not be possible until January, but free agents can sign for a new team at any time, so some players who remain unattached will be looking for their routes back into competitive action.

Here, TEAMtalk provides a summary of some notable free agents as of August 31, the day after the transfer window closed in England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy.

We’ve chosen five per position, but would you want to sign any of them for your club or have the best all already been taken?

Goalkeepers

• Keylor Navas remains a free agent after his contract with Paris Saint-Germain expired at the end of the 2023-24 season. Formerly with Real Madrid and Nottingham Forest, he is now 37 years old.
• Loris Karius, 31, was released by Newcastle at the end of last season. The former Liverpool goalkeeper has not endured a season with regular football since 2019-20, when he was at Besiktas.
• Kristoffer Klaesson left Leeds United at the end of last season, but his next club Rakow Czestochowa already released the 23-year-old after an agreement by mutual consent.
• Darren Randolph, 37, has not made any appearances over the last four seasons, the last two of which were with Bournemouth before they released him.
• Sergio Rico, once a loanee with Fulham, is available after his exit from PSG and is still only 30 years old.

Right-backs

• Cedric Soares is available at the age of 33 after being let go by Arsenal in the summer.
• Former Manchester United defender Timothy Fosu-Mensah, 26, was unused by Bayer Leverkusen last season and then released by the Bundesliga champions.
• 31-year-old Serge Aurier, formerly of Tottenham and Nottingham Forest, left Galatasaray a few months ago.
• Ex-France international Leo Dubois, still only 29, was also let go by Galatasaray recently.
• Bouna Sarr encountered various injury issues during his four-year spell with Bayern Munich.

Centre-backs

• Joel Matip is still looking for a club after Liverpool released him at the end of the Jurgen Klopp era.
• After his second spell with Sevilla ended, Spain legend Sergio Ramos remains without a club.
• Simon Kjaer, famously part of Denmark’s Euro 2020 squad, left AC Milan at the age of 35 this summer.
• Former Roma and Napoli centre-back Kostas Manolas, 33, recently finished a short spell with Salernitana.
• John Egan is looking to make a comeback to professional football after missing most of his final Sheffield United season through injury.

Left-backs

• Brandon Williams, once a big prospect at Manchester United, needs a new club after spending last season on loan at Ipswich Town.
• Patrick van Aanholt, who had Premier League experience with Chelsea, Wigan, Sunderland and Crystal Palace, recently left Galatasaray after a loan spell with PSV.
• Layvin Kurzawa left PSG this summer and, funnily enough, could sign for PSV.
• Former Leeds favourite Ezgjan Alioski’s spell with Al-Ahli recently came to an end.
• Ex-Germany international Nico Schulz is available after his Borussia Dortmund exit.

Midfielders

• Adrien Rabiot remains one of the biggest commodities in free agency after running his deal with Juventus down.
• Miralem Pjanic, previously with the likes of Juventus and Barcelona, recently concluded a two-year spell with Sharjah.
• Andre Gomes is available after leaving Everton and will be hoping to revive his career at the age of 31.
• Dennis Praet, still only 30, left Leicester after their promotion to the Premier League.
• Former Everton midfielder Davy Klaassen, 31, left Inter Milan a year ahead of schedule with a contract termination.

Wingers

• Former Tottenham winger Ivan Perisic ripped up his deal with Hajduk Split and the ex-Inter man may now seek a return to Serie A.
• Iker Muniain, previously a one-club man with Athletic Bilbao, is looking to join a new team for the first time at the age of 31.
• Alireza Jahanbakhsh fared better with Feyenoord than he ever did with Brighton, but the 31-year-old Iran captain is looking for a new club.
• Samu Castillejo, who has represented some fairly big clubs in Spain and Italy, was offloaded by Valencia after spending last season with Sassuolo.
• It never worked out for Rachid Ghezzal at Leicester but after four busier seasons with Besiktas it is time for his next chapter.

Strikers

• Anthony Martial is still only 28 but needs a platform with a new club if he is to move on from being remembered merely as a Manchester United flop.
• Another former Man Utd forward, Memphis Depay, only lasted a season with Atletico Madrid but is still only 30.
• Wissam Ben Yedder may be 34 now but still managed to score 20 goals for Monaco last season before being released.
• Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting has taken in PSG and Bayern Munich since his Stoke City days, so what comes next for the 35-year-old?
• Anyone fancy a punt on Mario Balotelli? The 34-year-old firebrand recently concluded his second spell with Adana Demirspor in Turkey.

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