2017 could well prove to be the summer of the first ever £200million footballer, and could easily see the Premier League’s collective spend eclipse the £1.5billion mark with nearly £900million splashed out already.In such decadently expensive times, it’s easy to forget that there are always deals to be had in the transfer market - in fact, the shrewdest operators can improve their squads without spending a single penny in transfer fees.On this day in 2005, for example, Tottenham signed a three-time Serie A winner, 74-cap Netherlands international and Champions League winner on a free transfer in the form of Edgar Davids. Amid the celebrations of the Premier League’s quarter-century this summer, FootballFanCast takes a look back at some of the English top flight’s best, shrewdest and most successful free transfers from the last 25 years.

Sol Campbell

It was a move that sent shockwaves around English football, trading the club that had reared him since his mid-teens and made him into one of the best defenders in Europe for their most bitter and most successful of local rivals. Indeed, the group of players who’ve directly crossed the Arsenal and Tottenham divide is an exceptionally slim one, so doing it when you’re Spurs’ best player by a country mile by taking advantage of the bosman ruling is something else altogether. Nonetheless, Sol Campbell unlikely has too many regrets; whereas nine years in the Tottenham first team produced just one trophy, five years at Arsenal saw the former England defender lift two FA Cups, two Premier League titles, be a part of Arsene Wenger’s famous Invincibles team and become one of just six Englishmen to score in a Champions League final. The commanding centre-back even re-signed for Arsenal again in 2010, although his second spell consisted of just 14 appearances.

Gary McAllister

A true masterstroke on Gerard Houllier’s part, Gary McAllister’s move to Anfield in 2000 certainly raised some eyebrows, not least because he was already 35 years of age at the time. But the Scotland international’s quality was never in doubt, particularly from dead ball situations, and by the time he left Liverpool two years later that proved to be what created a lasting legacy on Merseyside. Having not lifted silverware since Leeds’ First Division title in 1992, McAllister’s first season with the Reds ended in a unique treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup - the midfielder playing an integral role in winning the latter. In addition to netting a winning penalty against Barcelona in the semi-finals, a 5-4 victory over Alaves in the final saw McAllister set up three goals and score the golden goal (a trademark free kick) to earn the Man of the Match award. Also famed for a winner against Everton in the Merseyside derby, McAllister was later listed as one of the 100 players who shook the Kop, ranking at number 32.

Michael Ballack

Michael Ballack will always be remembered as one of the unluckiest players of his generation, developing an incredible knack for missing tournament finals through injuries and suspensions, not to mention ending up on the losing side of the ones he actually featured in. At the same time, however, Ballack was also one of the most talented players of his generation, so when Chelsea signed him from Bayern Munich on a free transfer in 2006, they knew they’d pulled off the coup of the summer. Ballack’s first outings in the Premier League divided opinion. Far from the swashbuckling goalscorer of the German national team, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, the 98-cap international was utilised in a far more reserved role behind Frank Lampard. But that only further highlighted what an exceptional team player Ballack was and eventually, during the 2009/10 season, that quality told as Chelsea claimed the Premier League title with a record number of goals, Ballack making 32 top flight appearances. During his time at Stamford Bridge, he also won three FA Cups.

Jay-Jay Okocha

A member of Pele’s famous FIFA 100, Nigeria’s talismanic talent at the 2002 World Cup and once the most expensive African footballer in the world, leaving PSG where he was aiding the development of none other than Ronaldinho to sign for Bolton Wanderers on a free transfer. Sam Allardyce is ever-revered as one of the Premier League’s greatest masters of the transfer market, but none of his signings have proved as incredible a coup as as Jay-Jay Okocha. When the attacking midfielder moved to Bolton, they’d just scraped Premier League survival by the skin of their teeth - finishing in 16th place. Two years on, with Okocha pulling the strings in midfield and scoring the occasional gorgeous goal, Bolton had reached a League Cup final, claimed a sixth-place finish and accordingly qualified for European football. That rise turned Bolton into a true Premier League force.

Esteban Cambiasso

Before Leicester City became miraculous title winners, they were fighting for their lives to stay in the top flight - something that probably wouldn’t have been possible without a certain Esteban Cambiasso of Inter Milan and Argentina fame. For Nerazzurri and Albicelesti, Cambiasso was very much a holding player, albeit one of the best holding players in the world. But for the Foxes, he was a midfield talisman, linking play with incredible quality and chipping in with five vital goals. In fact, he scored the goal against West Ham that instigated a run of 22 points from eight games which transformed Nigel Pearson’s side from Premier League whipping boys to eventual 14th-placers, accordingly winning the club’s Player of the Season award. Keen to keep his tenure short and sweet, Cambiasso left for Olympiakos in the subsequent summer, as his replacement N’Golo Kante drove Leicester on to the Premier League title. https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/PL25(06-07).mp4