The Bosman Ruling: 5 of the greatest free transfers ever

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The Bosman ruling proved beneficial for the players

#4 Jay-Jay Okocha (Bolton Wanderers)

Liverpool v Bolton Wanderers
Okocha had an excellent impact during his 4-years at the Reebok Stadium

The only player on this list who did not add any trophy to his cabinet after switching clubs for free. That was the sort of impact Jay-Jay Okocha had on proceedings at the Reebok Stadium, which allows him to make this list alongside the more illustrious names.

At a time when Sam Allardyce was making a name for himself with Bolton by signing big names like Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Hierro and Youri Djorkaeff, it was attacking midfielder Okocha, who was the source of the magic.

Okocha’s finest moment came during the 2004/05 season as he helped his side finish an astonishing 6th in the league, meaning qualification for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. The Nigerian midfielder chipped in with 6 goals during that epic season.

The creative midfielder was an absolute fan favourite at the Reebok Stadium, with the fans printing shirts containing the writing “Jay-Jay - so good they named him twice”.

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