Let’s jump right into it. These are, to my money, the top five players available for a free transfer next summer (provided they don’t agree new terms with their respective clubs).
Klass Jan Huntelaar
The game we all love has changed dramatically over the past generation.
But the currency in which football deals, retains the same beautiful simplicity as ever: Goals. And Klass Jan Huntelaar loves scoring them.
Great in the air and ruthless with both feet, Schalke’s Huntelaar is as close to a natural finisher as you are likely to find in the modern game.
A staggering 255 goals in 390 games across four European leagues needs no elaboration.
Oh, ok then, I’ll chuck in 34 goals in 59 appearances for Holland.
“In the penalty area, Klaas is the best player in the world bar none,” claims Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal.
Rumours continue to persist that Huntelaar would be open to a reunion with Luis Suarez.
The pair linked up devastatingly at Ajax and Brendan Rodgers’ desperate need for another striker may force him to compose a cap-in-hand email to Liverpool’s American hierarchy.
Swapping a potential Bundesliga title challenge for a Premiership sleeping giant in an ever-revolving re-building process would seem unlikely.
But with English football’s billionaire owners gazing wistfully towards the city of Madrid and Falcao, the Dutchman’s new home may well come outside the Premiership’s top four.
What’s the catch?
Critics will tell you he ‘flopped’ in Italy and Spain, certainly 15 goals in 50 games doesn’t scream overriding success.
Nor does it signify abject failure and last year’s cornea defying 48 goals in 47 games (all comps) for Schalke suggests the number nine is enjoying the best days of his career.
At 29 years old Huntelaar’s value will diminish rapidly over the next couple of years. But how often does a cut-price European goal-machine in his prime come on the market?
Fernando Llorente
If Klass Jan Huntelaar doesn’t take your fancy then perhaps a good-looking Spaniard from Bilbao will do the trick.
Fernando Llorente’s thick hair and the symbol on Athletic’s mascot prompted the nickname “El Rey León”.
Llorente scored 29 goals in 53 games last season and, despite his 6ft 5 stature, is a wonderful footballer, excelling in last season’s free-flowing Athletic side.
The Basque club is famous for only employing players born within the region.
Llorente grew up in a town outside the Basque region, but for his birth Fernando’s mother was driven into Pamplona to a Hospital where his Aunt worked. He thus enjoys the privilege of being an Athletic footballer.
Bilbao’s disastrous start to this season seems certain to result in a fresh challenge for the striker.
‘I cannot guarantee that I will still be with Athletic in 2013. In January I’m free to talk and I will consider all my options,’ Llorente, 27, recently admitted.
Juventus, Tottenham and others have all been linked to the striker, with the Turin-based club seemingly at the front of the queue.
What’s the catch?
Llorente has spent his life in Northern-Spain and has never played in the microclimate of a ‘big’ club.
There’s no doubting his ability, but how will he adjust to being uprooted and thrown into a new league, language and culture remains to be seen.