Mbappe, Messi, Pirlo and the biggest Bosman transfers in football history

Mbappe, Messi, Pirlo and the biggest Bosman transfers in football history Make us your Google favourite High-profile free transfers have proliferated in recent times, with agents and players realising that they will be able to pocket more money from moves when clubs don't have to stump up a transfer fee. Kylian Mbappe left PSG at the end of his contract and joined Real Madrid in June of 2024. And a year later, Trent Alexander-Arnold made the same free transfer move to Real Madrid, this time from Liverpool . Those are two recent examples of players taking advantage of the Bosman Ruling. What is the Bosman Ruling? The Bosman Ruling was introduced in 1995 after footballer Jean-Marc Bosman. Bosman took his club RFC Liege to court for not allowing him to freely move to French side Dunkerque without a transfer fee, even though his contract was expiring. As a result of this ruling, football players have since been free to join a new club for no fee once their contracts expire. Plenty have taken advantage of the ruling, and here we take a look at some of the most high profile Bosman deals in history. Gianluca Vialli – Juventus to Chelsea (1996) Gianluca Vialli joined Chelsea in the mid 1990s as part of Ruud Gullit’s rebuilding of the side, and would eventually replace the Dutchman as player/manager in 1998. It was after winning the Champions League with Juventus that the Italian opted to make the move to London. He was an integral part of making Chelsea a force to be reckoned with in English football again, just before the Roman Abramovich era. Edgar Davids – Ajax to Milan (1996) Shortly after missing a penalty in the shootout in the Champions League final versus Juventus, Edgar Davids left Ajax for Juve’s Serie A rivals, Milan. Davids effectively led the exodus from the Ajax team that won the Champions League in 1995, with the likes of Edwin van der Sar, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, and Marc Overmars all leaving not long after. He was with Milan for a season-and-half, before eventually making the switch to Juventus. It was there that he solidified his status as one of the best defensive midfielders in the world, alongside maverick playmaker Zinedine Zidane. Steve McManaman – Liverpool to Real Madrid (1999) Much like David Beckham a few years later, Steve McManaman saw a move to Barcelona fall through only to eventually join their Clasico rivals, Real Madrid. In 1999, McManaman joined Los Blancos having agreed a pre-contract agreement five months previously. He would go on to become the first English player ever to win the Champions League with a foreign club, and would double his tally of European Cup wins, too. Sol Campbell – Tottenham to Arsenal (2001) Few transfers in the noughties were met with such ferocious hatred from one set of fans and glee from the other. In 2001, Tottenham’s Sol Campbell crossed the North London divide to join Arsene Wenger at Arsenal , much to the dismay of the White Hart Lane faithful. He was labelled as ‘Judas’ by the Tottenham fans, not only for joining rivals Arsenal, but for previously breaking a promise that he would never play for the Gunners. He did play for them, and won two Premier League titles. Henrik Larsson – Celtic to Barcelona (2004) Celtic legend Henrik Larsson finally got his move to one of the elite European clubs in 2004 after years of excellence in Scotland. The Swede was hugely successful in Glasgow, but continually turned down the opportunity to move to a higher-profile league due to his commitment to Celtic, most notably rejecting a move to Manchester United . But in 2004, he announced he would not be staying at Celtic beyond his current deal. Barcelona, in the middle of a squad rebuild under Frank Rijkaard, recruited the European Golden Boot winner, with Larsson actually leaving with the blessing of the fans. Larsson would come off the bench to play a key role in the 2006 Champions League final against Arsenal. Michael Ballack – Bayern to Chelsea (2006) Chelsea were well into the Abramovich era when they secured the free transfer of Michael Ballack from Bayern . It showed that the Blues were one of Europe’s powerhouses that they could lure a three-time Bundesliga champion and three-time German footballer of the year to London for free. The German was a success at Stamford Bridge, winning the Premier League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup. He also helped Chelsea reach their first ever Champions League final in 2008 when they lost to