An amazing XI of free agents with Champions League experience still available
Another transfer window is done and dusted, so it’s the time of year once again where those of us whose clubs still have gaps to fill start thinking about free agents.
And there are some big names still ripe for picking up from the free agent pool. Sure, most are past their prime now, but we’re sure they could still do a job for someone.
In a 4-4-2 formation, here’s our XI of free agents with Champions League experience.
GK: Neto
It’s not the strongest start in goal, but Neto fits after playing 11 times in the Champions League.
Those appearances were spread between his spells with Juventus, Valencia, Barcelona and Arsenal.
Botafogo were the 37-year-old’s most recent employers back in his native Brazil.
RB: Dani Carvajal
Well, that one’s out of the way and now we’re talking. Carvajal has proper Champions League pedigree, making 96 appearances in the competition and winning it six times.
It all happened across his 13-year spell with Real Madrid, which came to an end this summer.
CB: David Alaba
Another defender ditched by Real Madrid this summer, Alaba has played in the past 15 consecutive Champions League campaigns.
The left-footer spent five seasons with Madrid after previously having a long stint with Bayern Munich. He won the Champions League twice with each club.
CB: Diogo Leite
It’s a left-footed centre-back partnership in our XI, with Leite alongside Alaba.
He’s not quite as well-versed in Champions League football, with just the 10 appearances in it to his name compared to Alaba’s 125, but at 27 years of age, the former Porto and Union Berlin man is classed as one of the most valuable free agents right now.
He might not be for much longer, with Lazio arranging a medical for him.
LB: Raphael Guerreiro
We could have gone with Oleksandr Zinchenko at left-back, but he’s currently injured. Besides, Guerreiro has more Champions League appearances under his belt.
His 63 outings in the competition all came during his time in Germany with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, the 32-year-old’s most recent club.
CM: Paul Pogba
How the mighty have fallen.
Pogba is back at square one after playing just six times for Monaco. He made the bench for a couple of their Champions League games last season, without making it onto the pitch.
Before, of course, he featured heavily in the UCL for Juventus and Manchester United. At one point, he was the most expensive player in the world.
But his next move will be for no transfer fee after his Monaco deal was terminated.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum
We were going to stick Yves Bissouma in here, since he looks like one of the more appealing free-agent midfielders, but we can’t quite believe he’s only ever played three times in the Champions League.
Sure, that does count as someone with Champions League experience, but there are a few options out there with significantly more.
Take ex-Liverpool man Wijnaldum, for example. His three-year run in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ettifaq is up, and the end of his career is probably close at the age of 35.
He last played in the Champions League for PSG in the 2021-22 season and has played in two of its finals for Liverpool before, winning the whole thing in 2019.
There were some whispers of a move to Chelsea a few days ago, given their failure to replace Enzo Fernandez, but there doesn’t seem to have been much in it.
RW: Riyad Mahrez
Another player to have reached the end of a three-year deal in the Saudi Pro League, Mahrez was one of the best-paid players in the world while with Al-Ahli.
After first stepping up to Champions League level with Leicester City a decade ago, Mahrez played in the competition in each of his five years with Manchester City.
City went all the way to win it in his final season there. Time for one last dance?
LW: Jadon Sancho
The most valuable free agent of them all, at least according to Transfermarkt’s algorithms, Sancho has suffered quite the fall from grace.
His move to Manchester United five years ago has to go down as one of the most disastrous in Premier League history.
Now 26, he finds himself at a crossroads. Can he recapture the potential he showed at Borussia Dortmund, where he made his first 21 Champions League appearances before his move to United?
Sancho later played in the 2024 Champions League final while on loan back with Dortmund, only for his side to lose to Real Madrid.
CF: Karim Benzema
Champions League heritage. Only three men have ever scored more goals in the competition than Benzema, who bagged 12 for Lyon and then 78 for Real Madrid.
Part of five Champions League-winning squads, Benzema was once overshadowed by Cristiano Ronaldo in Madrid but came to be recognised as a legend in his own right.
He’s been out in Saudi Arabia for the past three years, but recently ripped up his contract with Al Hilal.
At 38, retirement isn’t too far away for Benzema. But we’re sure he’s got more goals in him if he wants to carry on.
A return to Lyon has been mooted but it might be difficult.
CF: Mauro Icardi
Completing the lineup is another great striker of yesteryear: former Inter, PSG and Galatasaray star Icardi.
He was at his best with Inter, but only actually had one season playing in the Champions League there prior to his PSG move.
Icardi, now 33, was recently let go by Galatasaray after four seasons in Turkey.
Subs: Sergio Rico, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Krepin Diatta, Ismael Bennacer, Yves Bissouma, Philippe Coutinho, Anthony Martial, Raheem Sterling, Joselu
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