Free agents are the hot topic ahead of the 2022 summer transfer window, with record numbers of high-profile names out of contract come June this year.
The prize catch is obviously Kylian Mbappe, who seems destined for Real Madrid. Closely following are the likes of Paul Pogba, Paulo Dybala, Franck Kessie and Antonio Rudiger, all of whom are out of contract at their current clubs come the end of the current campaign.
It is not just the higher tier players that are available either: Boubacar Kamara, Mathias Ginter and Jason Denayer, along with Jesse Lingard and Luiz Felipe, will all be able to pick their clubs without worrying about a potential transfer fee not being agreed between the two parties.
France’s midfielder Paul Pogba (R) reacts as he speaks with France’s midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni (L) at the end of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification Group D football match between France and Bosnia-Herzegovina, at the Meineau stadium in Strasbourg, eastern France, on September 1, 2021. (Photo by FRANCK FIFE / AFP) (Photo by FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
The concept of the Bosman transfer is becoming increasingly common, not least in part thanks to the extortionate fees that players and their entourages are beginning to demand. Mbappe, for example, will earn a significant sum should he join Los Blancos, in lieu of the Spanish side having to pay a premium for his services to PSG.
But, as Paris Saint Germain demonstrated in the most recent summer window, signing free agents is not all it is cracked up to be.
PSG’s gamble
It was quite the summer for Paris Saint Germain, who managed to recruit four new faces without committing a penny to transfer fees.
Household names arrived too, in the form of Sergio Ramos and Georginio Wijnaldum, while Gianluigi Donnarumma also arrived from AC Milan on the back of a Euro 2020 winning campaign with Italy.
The star of the show, of course, was Lionel Messi. When it emerged that he would not be staying at Barcelona, the Qatar-owned club sprang into action, putting together a very lucrative package for the Argentine.
And while PSG are on course to wrestle back the Ligue 1 title from Lille, and hold a 1-0 advantage over Real Madrid heading into the second leg of their Champions league tie, none of those signed for nothing have really lived up to their billing.
35-year-old Ramos, for instance, has made just 4 appearances for the French side in Ligue 1, and has been injured for much of the season as he was during his last campaign for Real Madrid.
PARIS, FRANCE – JANUARY 15: Captain Marquinhos and Sergio Ramos of Paris Saint-Germain react during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats’s game between Paris Saint-Germain and Brest at Parc des Princes on January 15, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images)
Donnarumma, meanwhile, has failed to nail down a starting spot, but is still just 21 years old and will almost certainly do so.
The biggest question mark perhaps surrounds Gini Wijnaldum, who was rumoured to be keen on an exit from the Parc De Princes just months after arriving, despite PSG working so hard to snatch him away from Barcelona.
12 League starts suggest that he is as much an option of the bench as an integral part of the side, not really what he was signed for.
Even Messi, who can never be written off, has struggled to adapt and has not hit the heights expected of him.
Of course, this is Paris Saint Germain, where money is no object and where should they win the Champions League, it will be regarded as all worth it.
However, their free-agent recruitment, however sensible-looking in some places, should send warnings to those trying to add players for nothing this summer.
