window transfer is open  EPL 

swung open once again as clubs clamour to bolster their squads for the second half of the Premier League season.

Whether it's Manchester City spending the millions in a bid to help them to a second successive title or Wigan scrambling around for a bargain to help stave off relegation, you can be sure of a busy month ahead.

But for clubs prepared to wait a little longer, there are some sumptuous signings to be made in the summer... for absolutely nothing. 

Players in the Premier League were free to talk to foreign clubs from January 1 but British clubs must wait six months, until June 1, to do likewise.

Here, Sportsmail guides you through the players who are available from the top flight.

 

THE ULTIMATE FREEBIE XI (4-4-2)

 Schwarzer (Fulham); A Cole (Chelsea), Carragher (Liverpool), Ferdinand (Man United), Gallas (Tottenham); Giggs (Man United), P Neville (Everton), Scholes (Man United), Lampard (Chelsea); C Cole (West Ham), Walcott (Arsenal)

 ARSENAL: Theo Walcott, Andrey Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci, Emmanuel Frimpong, Lukasz Fabianski

 ASTON VILLA: Richard Dunne, Andy Marshall, Eric Lichaj

 CHELSEA: Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Florent Malouda, Paulo Ferreira, Hilario, Ross Turnbull

 EVERTON: Phil Neville, Sylvain Distin, Jan Mucha

 FULHAM: Mladen Petric, Damien Duff, Mark Schwarzer, Chris Baird, Philippe Senderos, Mahamadou Diarra, Giorgos Karagounis, Brede Hangeland, Neil Etheridge

 LIVERPOOL: Jamie Carragher, Doni

 MANCHESTER CITY: Kolo Toure, Richard Wright

 MANCHESTER UNITED: Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs

 NEWCASTLE: Steve Harper, Xisco, Danny Simpson

 NORWICH: Elliott Ward, Marc Tierney, Simeon Jackson

 QPR: Kieron Dyer, Brian Murphy, Clint Hill, Shaun Derry, Radek Cerny, Ryan Nelsen

 READING: Stuart Taylor, Ian Harte, Brynjar Gunnarsson, Noel Hunt, Jay Tabb, Alex Pearce, Simon Church

 SOUTHAMPTON: Frazer Richardson, Richard Chaplow, Danny Butterfield, Artur Boruc, Jason Puncheon

 STOKE: Michael Owen, Matthew Upson, Carlo Nash, Rory Delap, Dean Whitehead, Ryan Shotton

 SUNDERLAND: Titus Bramble, Louis Saha, Matt Kilgallon, Fraizer Campbell

 SWANSEA: Gerhard Tremmel, Luke Moore, Dwight Tiendalli, Mark Gower

 TOTTENHAM: William Gallas, Carlo Cudicini

 WEST BROM: Boaz Myhill, Marc-Antoine Fortune, Steven Reid, Zoltan Gera, Goran Popov, Chris Brunt, Gonzalo Jara, Luke Daniels, Yassine El Ghanassy

 WEST HAM: Jussi Jaaskelainen, Gary O’Neil, Freddie Piquionne, Winston Reid, Joey O’Brien, Carlton Cole

 WIGAN: Maynor Figueroa, Callum McManaman, Franco Di Santo, Albert Crusat, Piscu, Mike Pollitt, Ronnie Stam, David Jones, Emmerson Boyce, Antolin Alcaraz