The best free agents after the January transfer window

The January transfer window often surprises us with unexpected moves, but some players are still looking for a club. This is the best team of free agents, according to The Sun.

Between the posts, we find none other than David De Gea, who is a free agent after his contract at Manchester United expired in the summer of 2023.

De Gea is synonymous with experience, with 545 appearances for the Red Devils, in which he kept 190 clean sheets, according to stats from Transfermarkt.

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Next up is Mamadou Sakho, a former Crystal Palace and Liverpool player.

The Frenchman played for Montpellier until November 2023, but has since been looking for a new club.

The same goes for Shkodran Mustafi, whose last club was Spain's Levante.

At 31, Mustafi still has a lot to offer, with more than 150 appearances for Arsenal to his name.

Since 1 September 2022, Danny Rose has been looking for a new club.

Rose passed through the ranks of several Premier League clubs, such as Tottenham, before ending up with Watford in 2021, where his contract expired in September 2022.

In midfield, we find France's Yann M'Vila.

The midfielder once cost Rubin Kazan €12 million (Transfermarkt), but is still looking for a club as we speak, after his latest spell at Olympiacos.

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The same can be said about Matthew Longstaff, the brother of Newcastle's midfielder Sean.

Longstaff is only 23 and a youth product of Newcastle United. He failed to really break through at the Magpies, however, who did not renew his contract in the summer of 2023.

Next in line is Josh Onomah, a Tottenham Hotspur academy player who signed for Preston North End early 2023 and is still only 26.

According to Transfermarkt, Onomah only played 13 games for Preston, and was let go by the club after the 2022/23 season.

Anwar El Ghazi played for Dutch top clubs Ajax and PSV Eindhoven, and also enjoyed spells at LOSC Lille, Aston Villa and Everton (loan), amongst others.

In September 2023, he was signed as a free agent by Germany's 1.FSV Mainz 05, where he was dismissed early November 2023 for a pro-Palestine social media post. Since then, the winger has been looking for a new club.

One of the biggest names on this list, Juan Mata was once a big name in European football.

The Spaniard played for Valencia, Chelsea, Manchester United and Galatasaray, before signing for Vissel Kobe, where he left in early 2024.

Diego Costa, a fearsome striker in his prime, is also looking for a new club.

Costa played for top clubs such as Atletico Madrid and Chelsea, with whom he won two Premier League titles. After spells at Wolverhampton and Brazil's Botafogo, the former Spanish international is currently a free agent.

Last but not least, Hatem Ben Arfa is in The Sun's best team of free agents.

The Frenchman has world-class technical qualities, but has often been described as a player of difficult character. After leaving LOSC Lille in the summer of 2022, what will be his next club?

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