Julio Cruz is a free agent and outclasses the other players stat wise, also Febian Brandy is free and although he doesn't look overly great, with his pace he has done wonders at league 1 level for me. Also look at players in here:
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2011-players/50945-free-agent-thread.html . Finally, seeing as in you're in league 1 look at loanees from the Premier League, pay £0 for wages and £0 for initial fee and some can be good, this can be good long term as well as short term as well, because if you target players with 1 year left on their contract and loan them before they agree a new one then when it comes to the end of the season, sometimes they haven't signed a new contract because they've been with you, and then you can sign a talented youngster for free, I've done this a few times with Fabio Borini for Chelsea.
Almost forgot: Marko Livaja - a free agent, 16 years old. He has a global ban until next season, but he'd be a great prospect for Tottenham's and Man City's (I know, I've signed him for them on separate saves), he's supposedly good at league 1 level (3* my scout says at Peterborough), and he still has bags of potential. I offer him a 4 week trial and as soon as he accepts I offer him a contract (I find this stops issues with a work permit). He's a real gem and has very few contract demands. Will also qualify as home-grown if you hang on to him as his ban ends when he's 17 so he has 4 years until he can't qualify.
