Football Manager 2018 Best Free Agents

This is my guide to finding and assessing the best Football Manager 2018 free agents. It applies to top leagues by default, which means that the players you see below will likely have no interest in joining a lower league side. I will work on another list for lower leagues when time allows, so keep checking the site for that in the coming weeks.

Football Manager 2018 quality players without contract

This list includes some of the most notable free agents in Football Manager 2018 who would be willing to join a team from the top divisions; mainly top flight sides or second division ones in certain nations, such as English Championship. So essentially these are the best FM 2018 players available on a free transfer at the beginning of the first season (July 1st, 2017).

Top 365 FM18 free agents are included.

Date of first publication: Oct 29, 2017

This is the successor of my ultimate list of Football Manager 2017 best free agents. I will be revising this list often as I gather more data from my test saves and of course based on your feedback in the comments down below.

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What are free agents?

They are players without contract available on a free transfer. Free players are ideal to boost your squad when your transfer budget is very limited. They are usually players in the twilight of their career, but there are always cases of younger players who are still free for different reasons.

What does the rating (R) mean?

It's a personal recommendation system for your convenience. I'm using a 1-100 scale based on English divisions.
81+ world-class player
78-80 great player for Premier League
75-77 solid backup for Premier League
72-74 top player for Championship
69-71 top player for League One

R	Name	Age	Position	Int	Nat
73	Gottardi	31	GK	0
70	Given, Shay	41	GK	134
72	Ventura	29	GK	0
71	Santiago, Óscar	26	GK	0
70	Miño, Rubén	28	GK	0
71	Luan Polli	24	GK	0
71	Quintana, Aldair	22	GK	0
70	Zé Guilherme	21	GK	0
70	Pasotti, Alessandro	21	GK	0
70	Gutiérrez, Israel	23	GK	0
70	Renan	24	GK	0
70	Nicoletti, Dilan	23	GK	0
70	Castaño, Santiago	22	GK	0
70	Brammen, Jonas	19	GK	0
76	Spahic, Emir	36	SW, D C	93
71	Guilherme Andrade	28	D R, DM	0
70	Moloi, Thabo	23	D R	0
71	Boenisch, Sebastian	30	D RLC	14
76	Wasilewski, Marcin	37	D RC	60
76	Sagna, Bacary	34	D RC	65
70	Cendrós, Pau	30	D RC	0
70	Vidrio, Néstor	28	D RC	0
70	Torbinskiy, Dmitry	33	D L, AM RLC	30
70	Rodríguez, Diego	30	D L	0
71	Chávez, Darvin	27	D L	3
75	Fuentes, Juan	27	D LC	0
72	Belaïd, Aymen	28	D LC	2
70	Rodnei	31	D LC	0
70	Marange, Florian	31	D LC	0
71	Escalante, Dionicio	27	D LC	0
71	Renato Santos	30	D LC	0
71	Ábrego, Joshua	30	D LC	0
70	Diego Sacoman	30	D LC	0
74	Domínguez, Sebastián	36	D C	7
74	Latka, Martin	32	D C	1
74	Eleílson	32	D C	0
73	Basa, Marko	34	D C	38
72	Mosquera, Aquivaldo	36	D C	29
72	Lúcio	39	D C	105
74	Kirchhoff, Jan	26	D C, DM	0
72	Madlung, Alexander	34	D C	2
72	Lescott, Joleon	34	D C	26
71	Diarra, Alou	35	D C, DM	44
73	Belkalem, Essaid	28	D C	19
72	El Kaoutari, Abdelhamid	27	D C	11
70	Tavlaridis, Stathis	37	D C	3
73	Rafael Donato	28	D C	0
73	Mongongu, Cédric	28	D C	39
73	Bassong, Sébastien	30	D C	18
70	Rotpuller, Lukas	26	D C	0
73	Ekstrand, Joel	28	D C	2
70	Ícaro	28	D C	0
71	Viera	30	D C	6
70	Wellington	28	D C	0
70	Edson	29	D C	0
70	Gabriel Valongo	30	D C	0
73	Bikana, Vincent	25	D C	0
71	Lartey, Lawrence	23	D C	2
73	Silas	21	D C	0
71	Boldenkov, Valeriy	22	D C	0
74	Friedenlieb, Richard	20	D C	0
70	Kuznetsov, Artur	22	D C	0
70	Mancilla, Omar	22	D C	0
70	Iashvili, Davit	24	D C	0
70	Eren, Fatih	22	D C	0
71	Eboué, Emmanuel	34	D/WB/M R	79
71	Chávez, Rogelio	32	D/WB R	1
71	Castillo, Luis	26	D/WB R	0
71	Valencia, Carlos	28	D/WB R	0
70	Zambelli, Marco	31	D/WB/M R	0
72	Gabriel	29	D/WB R	0
73	Felipe Mattioni	28	D/WB/M R	0
72	Cicinho	30	D/WB R	0
72	Cissako, Yarouba	22	D/WB R	0
70	Pineda, Onay	28	D/WB R	0
70	Zivkovic, Pavo	26	D/WB R	0
71	João Felipe	25	D/WB R	0
72	Ghizzardi, Filippo	20	D/WB R	0
73	Sílvio	29	D/WB RL	8
71	Isidoro	30	D/WB RL	0
76	Trémoulinas, Benoît	31	D/WB L	5
71	Garrido, Javi	32	D/WB L	0
70	Signorino, Franck	35	D/WB L	0
71	Paredes, William	31	D/WB L	1
70	Arias, Mauricio	32	D/WB/M L	1
70	Aliji, Naser	23	D/WB/AM L	9
71	Diogo	27	D/WB/M L	0
73	De Ceglie, Paolo	30	D/WB/M L	0
71	Caballero, Martín	26	D/WB/M L	0
70	Palmieri, Julian	30	D/WB L, AM RLC	0
70	Achenteh, Rochdi	29	D/WB L, DM, M L	3
70	Díaz, Juan Manuel	29	D/WB L	0
71	Nivaldo	28	D/WB/AM L	23
70	Putrash, Yuriy	27	D/WB L	0
70	Sammartino, Massimo	21	D/WB L	0
71	Song Ju-Han	24	D/WB L	0
70	Matheus Pranke	22	D/WB L, AM LC	0
71	Triviño, Jonathan	21	D/WB L	0
75	Barton, Joey	34	DM	1
74	Keita, Seydou	37	DM	96
73	Flamini, Mathieu	33	DM	3
73	Castaño, Diego	38	DM	0
73	N'Daw, Guirane	33	DM	44
72	Nekounam, Javad	36	DM	151
72	Obbadi, Mounir	34	DM	21
73	Zokora, Didier	36	DM	118
74	Mulumbu, Youssouf	30	DM	39
71	Gonzáles Vigil, Juan Diego	32	DM	1
72	Khuboni, Thanduyise	31	DM	21
76	Denílson	29	DM	0
70	N'Goyi, Granddi	29	DM	1
73	Digard, Didier	30	DM	0
74	Crosas, Marc	29	DM	0
71	Saihi, Jamel	30	DM	19
75	Daushvili, Murtaz	28	DM	29
71	Enoh, Eyong	31	DM	54
71	Weis, Tobias	31	DM	1
71	Torres, Xavi	30	DM	0
70	Makos, Grigoris	30	DM	13
70	Banguero, Danovis	27	DM, M LC	0
70	Prepelita, Andrei	31	DM	14
71	Hernández, Jorge	29	DM	3
70	Augusto	24	DM	0
72	Recife	22	DM	0
72	Ramirez	29	DM	0
72	Haruna, Lukman	26	DM, AM C	8
72	Kankava, Jaba	31	DM	65
73	Gorobsov, Nicolas	27	DM	0
71	Zé Mário	25	DM	0
71	Gartner, Christian	23	DM, AM C	0
72	Johnnattan	28	DM	0
72	Rafinha	23	DM	0
71	Amaral	29	DM	0
70	Camara, Pape Abdou	25	DM	0
71	Faty, Papy	26	DM	19
72	Yahaya, Seidu	27	DM	0
70	Pelé	29	DM	0
72	Bruno Renan	26	DM	0
71	Jackson	26	DM	0
72	Fábio Braga	24	DM	0
70	Hervás, Javi	28	DM	0
70	Gabriel Soares	24	DM	0
70	Konaté, Makan	26	DM, AM C	0
70	Ozarkiv, Igor	25	DM	0
74	Minotti, Nadir	25	DM	0
71	Bruno Dybal	23	DM	0
70	Paterno, Nicolás	22	DM, AM C	0
70	Camara, Alpha	22	DM	0
71	Bobko, Ivan	26	DM, AM LC	0
71	Jéferson	22	DM	0
70	Houri, Lyes	21	DM	0
70	Mani, Sapol	26	DM, M RC	10
73	Matheus Batista	22	DM	0
73	Vachiberadze, Beka	21	DM	0
72	Pane, Giorgio	19	DM	0
72	Lämmel, Lukas	19	DM	0
71	Joss, Didiba	19	M RLC	0
70	Rivero, Diego	35	M RC	0
73	Traoré, Abdou	29	M RC	37
70	Díaz, Leandro	31	M RC	0
70	Wagner Carioca	30	M RC	0
71	Al-Mohemed, Saleh	24	M L	0
75	Davies, Mark	29	M C	0
70	Dimitrijevic, Milos	33	M C	0
71	Benedicic, Zan	21	M C	0
76	Saif Salman	24	M C	25
71	Enguene, Lionel	21	M C	0
71	Qeros, Frenci	18	M C	0
70	Negri, Oscar	34	AM R	0
70	Zurdo, Aníbal	34	AM R, ST	0
71	Karanovic, Goran	29	AM R, ST	0
70	Rondón	31	AM R, ST	13
74	Esqueda, Enrique	29	AM R, ST	8
70	Guisao, Wilder	25	AM RL, ST	0
72	Emmanuel, Sani	24	AM R, ST	0
70	Anderson Lessa	27	AM R, ST	0
71	Yago	23	AM RL, ST	0
71	Diney	26	AM R	0
72	Seanego, Maselaelo	23	AM R	0
71	Galeano, Sergio	20	AM R, ST	0
75	Dejagah, Ashkan	30	AM RL	39
73	Targamadze, Davit	27	AM RL	20
73	Ebert, Patrick	30	AM RL	0
71	Berger, Tomas	31	AM RL	0
70	Vicente	30	AM RL	0
70	Beister, Maximilian	26	AM RL	0
71	Ntambani, Bryan	18	AM RL	0
71	D'Arcangelo, Agustín	23	AM RL	0
74	Reyes, José Antonio	33	AM RLC	22
71	Duda	37	AM RLC	18
71	Diamanti, Alessandro	34	AM RLC	17
70	Hleb, Alexandr	36	AM RLC	77
72	Luna, Jorge	30	AM RLC	0
70	Renna	30	AM RLC	0
71	Sergio	24	AM RLC	0
70	José Carlos	29	AM RLC	0
74	Trovento, Emiliano	22	AM RLC	0
72	Ezequiel	26	AM RLC	0
74	Jennings, Dale	24	AM RLC	0
71	Otálvaro, Harrison	31	AM RC	1
73	Traoré, Kalilou	29	AM RC	16
71	Song Jin-Hyung	29	AM RC	0
70	Renan Donizete	21	AM RC	0
75	Capel, Diego	29	AM L	2
70	Gamboa, Ludovic	31	AM L	0
70	de Pena, Carlos	25	AM L	0
70	Aparicio, Eric	27	AM L, ST	0
73	Guilherme Queiróz	27	AM L, ST	0
70	Flores, Felipe	30	AM L, ST	2
70	Mashaba, Mzikayise	28	AM L	5
73	Gabriel Morbeck	19	AM L, ST	0
70	McLean, Scott	19	AM L	0
71	Liu Wenxi	22	AM L, ST	0
76	Vucinic, Mirko	33	AM LC, F C	46
72	Mauri, Stefano	37	AM LC	11
71	Boutahar, Saïd	34	AM LC	0
71	Commons, Kris	33	AM LC	12
77	Hadzic, Eldin	25	AM LC	0
72	Zambrano, Rody	24	AM LC	0
70	Yakovenko, Olexandr	30	AM LC	1
71	Mauri	24	AM LC	0
72	Mistretta, Domenico	20	AM LC, F C	0
73	Diaby, Abou	31	AM C	16
70	Gracián, Leandro	34	AM C	0
77	Bezus, Roman	26	AM C	19
71	Ndi, Daniel	21	AM C	5
70	Muñoz, José	23	AM C	0
70	Yelen, Zafer	30	AM C	0
71	Fabinho	22	AM C	0
70	Zaldivar, Matias	21	AM C	0
70	Rafael Gava	24	AM C	0
73	Isa, Sheriff	26	AM C	0
70	Mário Lúcio	27	AM C	0
70	Santa, Felipe	22	AM C	0
70	Sadikovic, Damir	22	AM C	0
72	Geraldo	23	AM C	0
70	Batyushyn, Yuriy	24	AM C	0
71	Franco, André	19	AM C	0
70	Zhegrova, Edon	18	AM C	0
71	Mamutov, Ruslan	23	AM C	0
70	Usman, Mohammed	23	AM C	4
70	Deramond, Fabián	23	AM C	0
71	Gabriel Louzada	21	AM C	0
72	Igor	24	AM C	0
70	Pará	20	AM C	0
71	Pedro Pires	21	AM C	0
72	Nazareno, Francisco	23	AM C	0
71	Ganke, Audrey	18	AM C	0
72	Forlán, Diego	38	AM/F C	112
70	Júlio Baptista	35	AM/F C	42
71	Assis	29	AM/F C	0
72	Anderson Aquino	30	AM/F C	0
73	Fofo	27	AM/F C	0
72	Koné, Zoumana	25	AM/F C	0
72	Ongenda, Hervin	22	AM/F C	0
71	Kaio	29	AM/F C	0
70	Ruíz, Vihanney	29	AM/F C	0
70	Renan Silva	28	AM/F C	0
70	Daniel Lemos	27	AM/F C	0
72	Ochoa, Pablo	25	AM/F C	0
74	Villalba, Favio	19	AM/F C	0
72	Pronichev, Maximilian	19	AM/F C	0
70	Sotto, Cristhian	25	AM/F C	0
71	Mosquera, Iván	22	AM/F C	0
79	Diego	19	AM/F C	0
79	Chuma	20	AM/F C	0
70	Garcés, Juan Pablo	19	AM/F C	0
76	Nieto, Federico	33	ST	0
79	Rossi, Giuseppe	30	ST	30
75	Nanni, Roberto	35	ST	0
75	Boymans, Ruud	28	ST	0
73	Solari, Esteban	37	ST	0
78	Welliton	30	ST	0
73	Alonso, Iván	38	ST	0
75	Bozhinov, Valeri	31	ST	43
73	Holt, Grant	36	ST	0
73	Sanogo, Boubacar	34	ST	21
72	Bianchi, Rolando	34	ST	0
72	Obina	34	ST	0
72	Chamakh, Marouane	33	ST	64
72	Amauri	37	ST	1
72	Wila, Armando	32	ST	1
74	Skutka, David	29	ST	0
71	Igor	37	ST	0
71	Traoré, Dramane	35	ST	29
71	Farías, Ernesto	37	ST	1
71	Kapetanos, Pantelis	34	ST	4
72	Brown, Chris	32	ST	0
71	Paulse, Nathan	35	ST	1
71	Aliadière, Jérémie	34	ST	0
74	Hamedallah, Abderrazak	26	ST	14
71	Temwanjera, Mike	35	ST	3
70	Leandro Kivel	34	ST	0
70	Fauré, Cédric	38	ST	0
71	Regales, Romero	30	ST	1
70	Campos, Pablo	33	ST	0
70	Caruso, Leandro	35	ST	0
70	Montaño, Víctor	33	ST	1
70	Welcome, Georgie	32	ST	31
70	Corr, Barry	32	ST	0
71	Pedro Oldoni	31	ST	0
73	Diogo Campos	26	ST	0
72	Beto	30	ST	0
70	Mitsanski, Iliyan	31	ST	15
72	Klesnil, Zdenek	30	ST	0
71	Fryatt, Matty	31	ST	0
73	Tamuz, Toto	29	ST	10
74	N'Gog, David	28	ST	0
71	Badji, Badara	23	ST	0
73	Reis	28	ST	0
70	Pugh, Lucas	23	ST	0
70	Sherrod, Mark	26	ST	0
70	Miller, Ishmael	30	ST	0
71	Coulibaly, Souleymane	22	ST	0
70	Betinho	30	ST	0
72	Bruno Lopes	22	ST	0
70	Best, Leon	30	ST	7
72	Charquero, Jonathan	28	ST	0
73	López, Jonathan	28	ST	0
70	Léo Paoli	22	ST	0
70	Malaquias	30	ST	0
70	Bienvenu, Henri	28	ST	3
72	Jara, Matías	29	ST	0
72	Shahbazzadeh, Sajjad	27	ST	0
71	Carreño, Abraham	29	ST	0
70	Nava, Raúl	26	ST	0
70	Biton, Dudu	29	ST	0
71	Vitor Xavier	23	ST	0
70	Bruno Furlan	24	ST	0
70	Gómez, Johan	23	ST	0
71	Nicchiarelli, Lucas	20	ST	0
70	Patrick	26	ST	0
74	Rafael Castro	25	ST	0
70	Anjembe, Timothy	29	ST	0
71	Mohannad Abdul Raheem	23	ST	26
72	Demelchori, Leonel	22	ST	0
71	Netto Imperador	25	ST	0
71	Bermúdez, Brayan	21	ST	0
74	Flávio	20	ST	0
70	Jeorge	25	ST	0
70	Kemajou Dimabi, Junior	21	ST	0
70	Servín, Raúl	26	ST	0
70	Bunjaki, Enis	19	ST	0
70	Salas, Patricio	28	ST	0
70	Gryshyn, Valeriy	23	ST	0
73	Douglas	21	ST	0
71	Marcus Vinícius	27	ST	0
71	Lukanov, Dmytro	22	ST	0
70	Vínicius	25	ST	0
71	Fábio	20	ST	0
71	Assuério	24	ST	0
71	Feliphe	25	ST	0
70	João Gabriel	21	ST	0
74	Mardikian, Mardik	25	ST	10
70	Angulo, Edison	27	ST	0
72	Batioja, Luis	23	ST	0
71	Hristov, Martin	20	ST	0
70	López, Francisco	21	ST	0
70	Arancibia, Eduardo	23	ST	0
70	Tino	20	ST	0
74	Gaydu, Thomas	18	ST	0
71	Cerda, Adrian	19	ST	0
70	Freire, Manu	20	ST	0
71	Luna, Flavio	20	ST	0
70	Youngs, Tom	22	ST	0
70	Simões, André	18	ST	0

FAQ

I can't find all players of this list on my savegame. Why?

I loaded all players (340k+) in-game to produce this list of FM18 free players. Your savegame probably has less players loaded.

Where is the downloadable shortlist to import in-game?

In recent years I would not share a downloadable shortlist because people would steal them and post on other sites without my consent. However, I will release a few shortlists with my favorite players.