10 Best Free Signings Ever Made By Newcastle United

7. Keith Gillespie

Although technically he isn’t a free transfer, per say, Newcastle acquired Gillespie at no expense as a makeweight in the deal that took Andy Cole to Old Trafford in January 1995.

It took 18 months for Gillespie to flourish at St James’ Park but when he began to display his undoubted talent on the wing it paid dividends for us. His searing pace down either flank coupled with an uncanny ability to deliver pinpoint balls into the box at speed were assets shared by only a few other wingers in the Premier League.

His performance against Barcelona on that magical Champions League night is often overshadowed by Tino Asprilla’s legendary hat-trick. Lest we forget two of the goals came from Gillespie crosses and the Ulsterman was a constant thorn in the side of Spain international left-back Sergi. Arguably one of the players we allowed to leave too soon when he was sold to Blackburn in 1998.