10 best free agent signings in Premier League history

Modified Jun 15, 2015 09:06 GMT

5) Kevin Davies – Bolton Wanderers

After making a name for himself in the lower leagues and the cups with Chesterfield, Kevin Davies was bought by Premier League club Southampton in 1997. He departed for Blackburn Rovers a season later, didn’t impress, and returned to Southampton just one season after that.

Having failed to impress again at St. Mary’s, he was loaned out to Millwall before being released by the Saints in 2003. When Bolton signed the 26-year-old free agent – seen as a failed Premier League player – it was hardly seen as a marquee signing.

However, it proved to be a shrewd move on the part of Sam Allardyce, as Davies would go on to become a key Bolton player. He scored 85 goals in 407 competitive games for the Trotters (74 in 351 league matches), became the club captain and even made his England debut as a 33-year-old whilst with the club.

4) Michael Ballack – Chelsea

From 1999 to 2006, Michael Ballack was one of the best players in Europe. He rose to true superstar-level prominence when he was part of the Bayer Leverkusen team that reached the 2001/02 Champions League final and subsequently earned a move to Bayern Munich.

He shone for Bayern – winning three Bundesliga titles – and reached a World Cup Final with Germany in 2002. In 2006, after some poor performances for the German giants, which were blamed on his contract coming to an end and him wanting to leave the club, he signed for Chelsea for nothing. In spite of interest from Manchester United, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and AC Milan, the German midfielder signed for the Blues – and he was still only 29 years old.

He played 166 games for the Blues, scoring 25 times, and won the Premier League, three FA Cups, a League Cup and a Champions League runners-up medal with the club before returning to Leverkusen in 2010.

3) Paul Scholes – Manchester United

This one’s a little different to the others on the list, as Paul Scholes had actually retired from playing football when Manchester United – the only club he had ever previously played for – re-signed the diminutive midfielder in 2012.

The former England international (Scholes had retired from international duty in 2004, after scoring 14 goals in his 66 caps) came out of retirement in January of the 2012/13 season to aid with an injury crisis at Old Trafford and helped the Red Devils regain the title from city rivals Manchester City.

He made 16 Premier League appearances in that final season, scoring once, but added his invaluable experience to the team and was a truly important factor in them winning the title. In total, Scholes made 718 competitive appearances for United, scoring 155 times.

Edited by Staff Editor