Mathieu Berson is available on free at the start of the game and is a very good deep-lying playmaker kind of a player (I'm not sure whether you have updated the database, or did you gain promotion). Players like Naughton, Walker, Cunningham and Bertrand could be interested in joining your club on loan (FB's). If Kisnorbo (Leeds Utd, CB) has gotten back to full fitness, he should be available on cheap and makes a good Championship stopper. Verkhovtsev (spelling? ) is a great CB also, and usually cheap. Alex Smithies for GK.
I'd personally search players whom are out of contract and have international experience (makes the search easier), eg. has two caps for country or youth caps, to narrow down the results. Using the same method and searching for players whose contracts are about to expire in 6/12 months could be a good way to find players with relatively small transfer fees.