No such thing as a free, really though. Why would he wait 6 months to move , when you had agreed to buy out his contract in January....because he gets the millions as an immediate signing on fee. Take that/wages/time of contract into account and you will be commiting quite a bit of cash to him.
He was linked with us 3 years ago but it went dead, I think because he was in the lower leagues and doesnt fit the mantra of buying players who can also be an investment as well as asset, or just lazy journalism as he shares the same agent as Michu. Since then he has done well at Valladolid when they went up.
There are only 3 reasons he hasnt joined you yet, he gets big bucks on the free this summer, or, the pre contract is not as water tight as Tan believes.
I only pointed the age being 32 1/2 for a player untested in the UK, as I thought you were supposed to be just investing in younger players (or am I wrong?)