Former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Inter superstars are among the most high-profile free agents in world football right now.

The pool of top, experienced unattached players gets smaller by the week, but there are still a number of high-profile stars currently available to sign for no transfer fee as we approach the winter months.

We’ve identified five Champions League winners that it’s hard to believe are currently free agents.

Sergio Ramos

Last summer, Real Madrid’s legendary former captain reportedly turned down huge money offers from Saudi Arabia to rejoin his hometown club Sevilla after his departure from PSG.

“This is a decision that I made on a personal and family level,” Ramos told reporters when explaining why he called it quits after just one season back at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

“I’m leaving here as I arrived, without talking about money. They gave me the opportunity to continue with a lifetime contract, but I have made another decision.

“It is true that the United States is a country that attracts us a lot at the family level, but to this day there is nothing agreed with any team anywhere. I don’t think about retiring at all, I’ve felt very good this year. I’m hungry to continue competing and I feel healthy to continue competing.”

Recent months have seen Ramos linked with an eclectic mix of clubs, from Egyptian giants Zamalek to Brazilian outfit Botafogo to a host of Saudi Pro League clubs.

But nothing has been confirmed and the fact he remains a free agent at this stage suggests he’s holding out to join an MLS club ahead of the 2025 season. Might he be the next European star to reunite with Lionel Messi out at Inter Miami?

Rafinha

While Ramos couldn’t have played more of a key role in Los Blancos’ historic Champions League threepeat between 2016 and 2018, Rafinha was very much on the periphery during Barcelona’s last European triumph – as a rotated squad player in the treble-winning 2014-15 campaign under Luis Enrique.

Still, the Brazil international – son of World Cup winner Mazinho and younger brother of Thiago Alcantara – made 36 appearances in all competitions that historic season. That was the pinnacle of his career though, and he never quite nailed down a regular starting spot in subsequent years with Barca and PSG.

Something of a forgotten man, Rafinha has dropped off the footballing radar after spending the last couple of seasons out in the Qatar Stars League with Al-Arabi. But he’s still only 31, is undoubtedly talented, and it would be a major shame if he decides to call it quits like his elder sibling. Watch this space.

Mariano Diaz

Okay, we’ve gone from all-time Champions League legend to a squad player to something of a non-entity.

Regardless, Mariano’s CV does not lie – the Dominican Republic international was part of Real Madrid’s squads when they got their hands on Europe’s top honour in the 2016-17 and 2021-22 seasons, albeit having made next to no impact in either.

He scored just 12 goals in 84 appearances across his two stints with Los Blancos, spending most of his latter years collecting his wages and making the odd brief cameo. While that was a legitimate decision, it appears to have harmed his career – he only made nine appearances for Sevilla last term and now finds himself as a free agent once again.

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Keylor Navas

Now we’re talking again. Back to a proper, bonafide multiple Champions League winner – the Costa Rica always seemed to possess this unerring ability to save his best performances and biggest saves for the latter European knockout stages.

The veteran has won three Ligue 1 titles with PSG since departing Madrid, but he ended up on the fringes of the Parisiens’ squad after falling behind Gianluigi Donnarumma in the pecking order at the Parc Des Princes, even spending half a season out on loan at Nottingham Forest as they fought to stay in the Premier League.

Earlier this year, Navas announced his decision to retire from the Costa Rica national team after 16 years of service and over a hundred caps. But he’s shown no indication he’s ready to hang up his gloves just yet.

Might we see the 37-year-old reunite with Ramos yet again for an MLS club in 2025? We could definitely see it happening.

Mario Balotelli

Balotelli, a Champions League winner? We’re admittedly going back a fair bit for this one, but the Italian striker was part of Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter squad back in 2009-10. He didn’t make it off the bench in the final, but he did help see out the semi-final first leg 3-1 victory over Barcelona.

That was when the Italian was just starting to make a name for himself as one of the most promising, albeit volatile, strikers in Europe. It would be fair to see it’s been up-and-down since then – with notable peaks at Man City, AC Milan and Nice and just as notable lows at Liverpool and AC Milan (the second time around).

He’s spent the last half-decade as a classic journeyman, with time spent back in Italy with Brescia and Monza, Swiss side Sion and two separate stints with Turkish Super Lig side Adana Demirspor.

The 34-year-old was released by Demirspor for a second time at the end of last season and is yet to find himself a new home.

“He’d like to stay in Italy. He has so many requests from outside Europe, but he wants to stay close to home,” his agent Enzo Raiola confirmed in an interview with Tuttosport last month.

“There are talks with a few clubs, and we are waiting. We’ll see what to do if nothing unlocks in the coming months. Palermo? When we talk about them, it’s not Serie B. It’s a sort of Serie A2. The division is not a problem. We need an appropriate project for Mario.”