When the European Court of Justice passed the Bosman ruling in 1995, it changed the beautiful game forever.
Indeed, the allowing of footballers to freely move between teams upon the expiration of their contracts shifted power away from clubs and into the hands of the players – meaning they could hold employers to ransom during wage negotiations.
So essentially we have Jean Marc Bosman, a former inhabitant of the Belgian top flight and lower French divisions who has been convicted of drunkenly assaulting his girlfriend and daughter since retiring, to thank for Wayne Rooney raking in about £13million a year.
But nonetheless, the bosman ruling does create an interesting dynamic in the transfer market; namely, the ability to snap up players whose contracts are winding down on the cheap.
So with the new season underway and therefore many footballers now into the final term of their current contract, we’ve listed FIVE bosman-bound stars Liverpool should target.