The five best free agents still available after deadline day

This article breaks down the stats of the five most valuable free agents (according to Transfermarkt) still available to sign outside the transfer window.

If your club is still lacking quality, these are some of the names they should be looking at.

 

Jason Denayer ex Lyon (£12.60m value)

According to Transfermarkt, the most valuable free agent still available is ex-Lyon centre back Jason Denayer, at a value of £12.6 million.

He is an imposing, tall and strong defender, who has proven himself at the highest level.

The 26-year-old began his career at Manchester City, coming through the youth system as the new super-rich era of the club got underway. He went on four loans away from the Etihad, to Celtic, Galatasaray, Sunderland and then Galatasaray again, before finally joining Lyon permanently in 2018.

Denayer has played fairly regularly at every club, giving him some great experience. He won the league and Scottish League Cup at Celtic, as well as the league and the Turkish Cup with Galatasaray. He has also played plenty of matches in the Champions League and the Europa League.

In the 2021-22 campaign, Denayer featured 21 times for Lyon across all competitions, including five starts in the Europa League. It’s fair to say his stats are far from remarkable, but they were solid. He averaged 0.7 successful tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 3.2 clearances per game for the French club, helping to keep 5 clean sheets overall.

Denayer ultimately decided to leave Lyon due to the club not meeting his high wage demands, which were reportedly around €2m per year.

But it’s worth noting that the centre-back has also made 51 appearances for Belgium since 2015, so he undoubtedly has quality.

According to media reports, Wolves have made enquiries about signing the free agent, and it will be interesting to see where he ends up this season.

Played: 21

Tackles per game: 0.7

Interceptions per game: 1.1

Clearances per game: 3.2

Assists: 1

Goals: 3

Clean sheets: 5

 

Ross Barkley (£10.80m value)

Ross Barkley is well known among English fans as a player who looked fantastic in his early career at Everton, but since joining Chelsea in 2018 on a big contract, injuries have limited his playing time considerably and he has failed to fulfil his potential.

At now 28-years-old, Barkley opted to end his contract at the London club by mutual consent, as he hopes to get his career back on track.

Last season, Barkley played 14 games for Chelsea, but only started four times, showing just how little Thomas Tuchel trusted him. In the games he did play, he did ok but wasn’t outstanding. His pass success rate was a solid 85.1%, also creating chances for his teammates with 1.3 key passes per match.

Barkley also carried a decent threat going forward, with 1.2 successful dribbles and 1.5 shots on target per game. However, he ultimately only scored 1 goal and made 0 assists.

But Ross is one of those players you know has undeniable quality, but he has failed to show it for a number of years.

At a loan spell with Aston Villa in the 2020-21 season, he showed signs of the player he once was, featuring 24 times, making three assists, and scoring one goal.

However, he has never hit the heights that he did at Everton, where as a young player he played 349 matches, scoring 53 goals and making 43 assists.

If he can rediscover that kind of form, he would definitely be worth a punt for any team lacking an attacking midfielder, so long as his wage demands aren’t too high.

Played: 14

Pass success: 85.1%

Key passes per game: 1.3

Shots per game: 1.5

Dribbles per game: 1.2

Assists: 0

Goals: 1

 

Xeka (£8.10m value)

Xeka is another player who has had experience playing at the very highest level and is now available on a free transfer.

The 27-year-old Portuguese midfielder has played the majority of his career in his home country, but most recently was with Lille from 2017 onwards, where he was a key part of their 2020-21 league-title winning campaign, when he featured 33 times for the club.

Last year, Xeka also scored Lille’s winning goal in the Trophee des Champions, in a 1-0 victory over PSG.

In the 2021-22 season, Xeka was still a regular for Lille, playing 35 matches in total. Playing generally as a number eight, he is an effective passer, with a success rate of 81.6%. The 27-year-old isn’t brilliant at creating chances though, making an average of just 0.6 key passes per game and contributing just one assist.

He did, however, score 4 goals for the French club, so he does offer something going forward.

Played: 35

Pass success: 81.2%

Key passes per game: 0.6

Shots per game: 1

Yellow cards: 10

Assists: 1

Goals: 4

 

Dan-Axel Zagadou (£8.10m value)

Another player with lots of good experience, 23-year-old centre-back Dan-Axel Zagadou began his youth career with Paris Saint Germain, before spending the past five years playing at Borussia Dortmund.

The Frenchman stands at a massive 6ft5 and is very strong with a great presence at the back. He has a reputation for being somewhat on the ball at times, but at just 23-years-old still has time to develop this side of his game.

Last season, he played 22 matches for Dortmund, averaging 0.9 tackles, 1 interception and 2.5 clearances per match, showing he is a defensive asset. Overall, he helped the Yellows to 5 clean sheets.

Given he had consistently been behind Manuel Akanji and Mats Hummels in the pecking order, it’s unsurprising that Zagadou opted to leave Dortmund. The only surprising thing is that no one has snapped him up on a free transfer yet.

Given his potential to improve and experience playing in the Champions League at such a young age, you’d think it would be a matter of time before Zagadou finds a new club.

Interceptions per game: 1

Clearances per game: 2.5

Assists: 0

Goals: 0

Clean sheets: 5

 

Dijbril Sidibe (£7.20m value)

Last but not least, Djibril Sidibe is another player who will be familiar to Everton fans, after his loan spell at Goodison Park in the 2019-20 season, where he played well for the Blues under Carlo Ancelotti.

Since then, the right back has been back at his then-parent club AS Monaco, where last season the 30-year-old featured 17 times in total and put in some decent performances for the French team.

Sidibe is a solid defender, who made an average of 1.4 successful tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 1.2 clearances last season, so he could do a job defensively playing in a good Ligue 1 team.

But the Frenchman can also be effective going forward on his day, making an average of 0.9 successful dribbles and 0.8 successful crosses per match. Although, Sidibe made zero goals or assists last season, but given his other stats you can see Sidibe does have the ability to create chances.

Sidibe has 18 caps and one goal for France, and he was part of the 2018 World Cup winning squad, so he has plenty of high-level experience and he knows what it takes to win major competitions.

The right-back was being heavily linked with a move to Nottingham Forest a week ago… so far nothing has been confirmed, but don’t be surprised to see him playing in the Premier League again very soon

Played: 26

Tackles per game: 1.4

Dribbles per game: 0.9

Crosses per game: 0.8

Assists: 0

Goals: 0

Clean sheets: 7