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According to reports from ESPN, club legend Ledley King has tipped promising Tottenham Hotspur star Eric Dier to become a ‘world class’ centre-back if he’s moved into the heart of defence.

The 22-year-old is famed for his versatility, having featured as a full-back, a centre-back and a midfielder at former club Sporting Lisbon, but has found great success as Spurs’ resident holding midfielder this season.

He’s started all but one of Tottenham’s 31 Premier League fixtures this term and is becoming an increasingly important figure in Roy Hodgson’s plans ahead of Euro 2016, bagging the winning strike in England’s 3-2 win over Germany last month whilst providing much-needed protection in front of a shaky defence.

But White Hart Lane icon Ledley King, who was deemed one of the greatest Premier League centre-backs of his generation whilst making 321 appearances for the north London club, believes Dier’s future lies at the heart of defence – and that moving him there could see the four-cap international reach the realms of world class.

As quoted by ESPN, King said; “I don’t want to be disrespectful but I still think he’ll be a centre-back and that’s nothing to do with his performances in midfield, because he can clearly play there. If he was to move back to centre-back, he would be even better there, especially given his experience in midfield.”

“You play in midfield as a centre-half and find time on the ball in an area that’s congested. When you get to the back, it’s easier. You have time on the ball and you’re more comfortable. You see the game a lot more clearly. The game comes to you.

“That’s something he can do, it’ll help him. I feel he can be a world-class centre-back after having this experience in midfield. But it’s up to him. I always knew I wanted to be a centre-half.

“You have to know in your own head where you want to play and then you have to earn the opportunity, and then you have to show you can take your level higher in your favourite position.”

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Despite playing for Arsenal for over a decade, Theo Walcott’s career in North London is seemingly always in a relatively precarious position.

The speedy England international will go missing for huge parts of the season before popping with a few goals when the team is playing well and staking his claim to be considered the club’s first-choice centre-forward.

It’s standard procedure at the Emirates. Almost an exact science.

In a situation that bares imagery with teammate Olivier Giroud, both men are either a few goals from being lauded or a few misses from being lambasted.

However, could the tide be turning on the former Southampton prodigy?

The emergence of young Alex Iwobi, playing with a vibrant dynamism many thought Walcott would ooze far more regularly, seems to have captured the imagination of the Arsenal faithful.

After impressing in a few fleeting substitute appearances, Arsene Wenger opted to promote the 19-year old Nigerian to the first-team.

He hasn’t looked back since.

Impressing away at Barcelona, he has since turned an encouraging outing into end product. Something Walcott has constantly struggled to do.

Two goals and assist, so far, in his last two Premier League games is some going for a man who only recently made his first-team debut.

Possessing far more a footballing brain than the England star, the nephew of the legendary Jay Jay Okocha has surely now overtaken him in the pecking order.

It will be hard for Arsene Wenger to rid of Walcott, after investing so much time, effort and money into him, though the emergence of Alex Iwobi may leave him little option but to.

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In 2016/17 Rangers have a chance to deliver the success that their fanbase craves. After four long years in the lower leagues they finally have the confidence and perhaps the manager to lead them to glory and have sealed their awaited return to the top tier, where they will face off against their old adversaries, Celtic.

Mark Warburton has a big transfer window ahead of him, having to put together a team that can compete in Scotland’s top flight. With four names having already arrived at Ibrox, including Joey Barton and Jordan Rossiter, it’s clear that he’s going to waste no time in going for the brightest and best that the Rangers name can attract, and it’s certain he’ll need them as it’s certainly not a given that they’ll breeze back to the very top.

Here are FIVE transfers that Rangers can’t afford to miss out on this summer…

Dominic Ball

Dominic Ball had an excellent season at Ibrox, on loan from Spurs, and must be a priority for Mark Warburton to re-sign this summer, either on another loan or as a permanent player – the semi-final against Celtic showed that he can compete at Scotland’s highest level.

We’re expecting a big turnaround of players at the Gers, but keeping a consistent core is vital if they are to challenge next season.

With first team opportunities likely to be limited at Spurs, he’s been linked with another season at Rangers.

Jason Cummings

The Daily Mail reported that Rangers managing direct Stewart Robertson had put in place a transfer for the Hibs striker before a deterioration in relations with the Edinburgh club in the wake of May’s cup final.

Perhaps when heads have cooled a little on both sides the Rangers hierarchy will come to the conclusion that the young striker is the man to fire them to silverware next season. With 25 goals for Hibs last term, he certainly has the pedigree to make an impact on Scotland’s top flight.

Sergi Canos

With the likes of David Templeton, Nicky Clark and Nicky Law leaving Rangers last week, the club could do with some attacking talent to replace them.

Sergi Canos is someone who can fill that void. Canos is said to be in a contract stand-off with Liverpool after impressing on loan at Brentford for a spell this season and Rangers are reported to be interested.

Frank McPartland has already utilised his Liverpool contacts to land Jordan Rossiter, and bringing Canos to the club would be another coup and statement of intent for the Ibrox side.

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Grant Ward

Another young English Premier League talent, Grant Ward could be the latest who moves on loan to Rangers from Tottenham Hotspur after reported interest from the Glasgow club.

Despite not breaking into the Spurs first team, he has experience at Chicago Fire, Coventry and most recently at Rotherham. He had a fine season in the Championship, and was almost ever present in the Millers’ midfield. He won their Young player of the Year award and has shown he has a bright future in the game.

Able to play across all the midfield positions, he would provide not just talent but also adaptability in a squad that’s lacking numbers.

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Danny Graham

Martyn Waghorn has proven to be a more than capable striker and with Kenny Miller scoring over 20 goals last season, Rangers haven’t lacked in attack.

Miller isn’t getting any younger though and a return to the flight for the former Scotland striker could prove a step too far. Danny Graham is a player apparently interesting Mark Warburton.

Not only does Graham offer talent up top, he’s an opportunity to get one up on their Glasgow rivals who are also reckoned to be tracking the out of contract striker.

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Big Team + Big Names + Big Budgets = Big Success?

As the Premier League reaps more and more money into its ever expanding coffers each year, the pressure on its clubs to pull off expensive signings of the biggest names in football in order to please the fans is an obligatory demand.

While no club in England has yet to make a “marquee signing”, the post-Euro/pre-Premier League weeks are bound to be awash with exciting superstars making their way to these shores.

However, do the elites need to look for big names to please their fans and empty their bank accounts?

Here we give Liverpool fans FIVE reasons why their team do not need to make a marquee signing this summer…

Returning Loans

While Liverpool will undoubtedly look to the transfer market to strengthen this summer, it is easy to forget that they have a number of players returning to Anfield from loan spells.

Mario Balotelli, Lazar Markovic, Luis Alberto and Andrew Wisdom are all potential first team players who will be heading back to Merseyside.

While the enigmatic Balotelli may not be welcomed back with open arms by Reds fans, the other three are all young, hungry stars who may flourish under Jurgen Klopp.

Quality not Quantity

Liverpool have managed to uncover some genuine talents over the past five years without breaking the bank.

Phillipe Coutinho and Luis Suarez were not global stars when they arrived in the city and were purchased for comparatively small sums.

If any man were to find these hidden gems around Europe, Jurgen Klopp would be a good bet.

Experience tells us it doesn’t work

How often do overpriced, egotistical superstars come to the Premier League for tens of millions of pounds and fail to impress?

You only have to look at some of the recent signings at Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge to know that sometimes, the Premier League is just too much of a challenge for supposed megastars.

While Liverpool have been comparatively wise in their spending in recent times, they must be careful that they do not fall into the overspending trap, that so many of their rivals have been prey to in recent times.

Youth

Alongside the talents of the first team at Liverpool, the club are also blessed with some fantastic products of their youth system who have been largely ignored by their managers in recent times.

While Klopp gave significant playing time to a handful of young stars last season, the club would be wise to look deeper into their home grown youth teams to find their next revelation.

Pedro Chirivella, Allan and Marko Grujic are all extremely exciting young talents who could make a breakthrough this coming season

Klopp at Dortmund

Ilkay Gundogan, Robert Lewandowski, Shinji Kagawa, Mats Hummels and Lukasz Piszczek were all signed by Jurgen Klopp during his time with Borussia Dortmund. W

hile that list now looks like the beginnings of a World XI, the combined transfer total of these unknowns at the time was just £10million.

The German manager has proved in the past that he can turn also-rans into superstars and there is no reason why he cannot do it again at Liverpool without having to break the bank for a marquee signing.

Arsene Wenger side perished to a 4-3 home defeat to Liverpool in the first match of the 2016/17 Premier League season and his place in the dugout is now in question.

The club’s longest-serving manager and most successful in terms of major titles won, it seems now Arsenal must part ways with Wenger and present a great send-off to their manager.

Here are some reasons to prove that Arsene Wenger is not be the right man to take Arsenal forward.

1. Lost his transfer sagacity

Robin van Persie, Patrick Viera, Thiery Henry, Sol Campbell, Cesc Fabregas, Robert Pires.

Those names were unknown talents who helped Arsenal achieve success and were adored by fans. That was Arsene Wenger’s transfer prowess.

But in recent years the Frenchman hasn’t been astute. Mesut Ozil, Petr Cech and Alexis Sanchez are surely awesome transfers, but those players were already established and the concluding the transfers weren’t much of a fuss as they were available.

Yaya Sanogo, Gervinho, Park Chu-young, Sebastien Squillaci and the perenially injured Abou Diaby are some of his transfer debacles. Now with Jamie Vardy rejecting the advances of Arsenal, this rather sums up Arsene Wenger losing his transfer mojo.

2. Reluctance to change

“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change”

But that quote hasn’t really applied to Arsene Wenger.

Despite failing badly in his transfer dealings, Wenger hasn’t yet mended his ways and continues to make mistakes. To make matters worse, he hasn’t yet adapted to new environment. His reluctance to pay over-the-top money has affected Arsenal as the rumoured targets move to their rivals and haunt Arsenal.

Transfers are not the only issue here. His reluctance to adapt to new tactics, failure to make changes to the dynamics of the team during the games has surely taken a toll on Arsenal. His insistence on sticking to plans and the absence of contingency plans is affecting his players and team.

3. Failure to inspire and lead

A successful comeback from Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool could be expected, but it’s least expected from Arsenal. Beyond tactics, sometimes all the players need is some motivation, inspiration from their coach.

The biggest ingredient in staging any comeback in the game is some tough love from the coach. But Wenger hasn’t been harsh on his players, which may be inferred from his post-match interviews when he is usually seen defending his players.

A lack of improvement from his perennial fourth place finish has made Arsenal a subject of memes and ridicule. Although Arsenal finished second last season, considering the failure of all the top sides, last year should have see Arsenal crowned winners and not Leicester City.

4. Time for new start

Premier League has been home to a lot of great managers and Arsene Wenger has been one of them. But it’s time that Arsenal bade farewell to their long-standing manager.

Everton, Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool have altered with different managers and could quite be the reason for their progress. A frequent change of managers (like Chelsea) might create instability within the squad, but competition is one source of success.

With Premier League now equipped with great managers and great players, a top four finish now is a difficult job. A revamp is necessary either with Wenger or without him.

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Swansea go into half-time at the Liberty Stadium trailing a dominant Chelsea side 1-0 thanks to a superb goal from the in-form Diego Costa.

Despite starting brightly, Francesco Gudolin’s side have spent the majority of the first half since the goal on the back foot as the away side look confident and dangerous with the ball in their possession.

With only 3 at the back too, almost all of the home side’s midfielders are being roped into tracking back – leading to them only being haplessly penned within their own box with no way out.

While they may have defended valiantly thus far, there has been little to no attacking threat from the Swans as they struggle to keep the ball and lack options when breaking on the counter.

Fernando Llorente looks isolated and out-of-sorts as he still searches for his first Premier League goal, which has left Swansea fans questioning the whereabouts of their record club signing – former Eibar and Atletico Madrid striker Borja Baston.

The Spaniard was once again left out of the squad for today’s game by Italian Gudolin.

Though the striker had been suffering with injury, he was indeed expected to be fit and make his first Premier League appearance today – but it was not to be.

As a result, the Swansea faithful have taken to twitter to show their frustration ….

Football is awash with talented players who never quite reached their potential.

Most of these lads were hugely able and big things were expected of them, but they let social factors and other aspects get in the way of their development on the pitch.

As fans, there are obviously things we don’t know about their private lives – problems that we couldn’t comprehend.

However, every follower of the beautiful game just wants to see the greatest players flourish and when someone disappoints in football, there is no hiding place.

In the news at the moment is promising midfielder Jack Grealish and his obvious troubles at Aston Villa. We’re hoping that we don’t have to add him to this list in years to come.

Unfortunately, though, we at Football Fancast headquarters have compiled a list of the five young starlets who wasted their immense talent. See if you agree with our five selections.

Ravel Morrison

Ravel Morrison was supposed to be one of the greatest footballers. Rio Ferdinand said that he was the best young footballer he’d ever seen, whereas Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Morrison was one of the most naturally gifted players to come through the ranks at United.

Unfortunately, none at United were able to tame the youngster and he eventually left in 2012. He has featured for West Ham, QPR, Cardiff and is now playing for Lazio, but never established himself and time is running out for him to reach his potential.

Jose Baxter

In 2008, Baxter became the youngest ever Premier League starter when he featured for David Moyes’ Everton side.

However, his personal issues are not unknown. Drugs and alcohol were, unfortunately, a huge part of his upbringing and after he moved on from Everton, the problems did not wash away.

He got in trouble whilst at Oldham and similarly at Sheffield United.

The midfielder has now been banned for 12 months for a second failed drugs test.

David Bentley

Bentley was tipped as football’s next big thing over a decade ago.

At 29 though, he retired from football and claimed that “he never felt like a footballer.”

He featured for Blackburn and picked up 9 caps for England before signing for Spurs for £15m. However, his career stalled under Harry Redknapp and the boy who was meant to be the next David Beckham has moved on to pastures new – he runs his own restaurant in Marbella.

Nick Powell

When at Crewe, Powell was tipped as one of the English game’s rising stars. He scored in the League 2 playoff final before being sold to United in the summer of 2012.

He scored on his competitive debut for the Reds in a 4-0 demolition of Wigan but later stalled in his progress.

He made a couple of appearances under Louis Van Gaal but eventually left the Red Devils this summer to join Wigan.

He’s been decent at the Latics but a lot more was expected of the midfielder. He still has time to improve, though.

Federico Macheda

Another United starlet who failed to reach his full potential was Federico Macheda – who scored the incredible 5th goal in a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa which gave United breathing space from title challengers Liverpool.

Macheda scored the winning goal at Sunderland the week after, too.

However, the Italian’s career at United also stalled. He went on many loan moves to Sampdoria, QPR, Doncaster, Birmingham, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest, but has never settled sufficiently and is now a free agent.

Since the Middle-Eastern takeover of Manchester City in 2008, the frequency of terrible players featuring for City has become less of a regular thing of course.

Nevertheless, despite the influx of heavy spending at the club, City have still managed to buy poorly at times.

Half a dozen managers in a decade and a number of players has resulted in a number of shocking signings.

City themselves have managed to achieve the most successful and consistent period in their history.

Prior to the takeover, the club signed some abysmal players for bargain fees yet somehow managed to survive relegation from the Premier League – the closest coming in 2007 under Stuart Pearce.

Since then, a substantial amount of players who failed to live up to their whopping price-tag.

After a lot of debate, our Tavern landlord and locals have come up with the worst Manchester City XI from the past decade.

GK – Andreas Isaksson

“Sweden’s Petr Cech” one journalist called Isaksson as he made the move from Rennes to Manchester City in 2006.

Capped 42 times by his country at the time of his arrival it was fair to say City fans were excited at the prospect of a long-standing goalkeeper.

Disaster.

It’s literally the only word to describe his time at the club and our City regulars certainly agree.

Premier League football is renowned for its physicality and fast-paced and he was so below par it’s terrifying to consider the times he kept goal for City.

RB – Danny Mills

Stuart Pearce believed Danny Mills was capable of returning to the England side under his tutelage – honestly.

Mills kept Micah Richards, an England international, out of the City team under Pearce and there was literally nothing the former could do to overtake him as the club’s regular right-back.

Mills left City in 2009 when his contract expired and despite scoring a wonder-goal against Everton in 2005, the former Leeds United right-back was beyond useless.

Unless it involved hoofing a ball 50 yards to no one, then Mills wasn’t very good.

CB – Eliaquim Mangala

France international Eliaquim Mangala joined City in 2014 for a fee believed to be £42million. A scary fee for someone so incapable of playing Premier League football.

Slow, lethargic and clueless would not be too harsh to describe the former Porto defender as his two years at Manchester City seen him cause a number defensive mishaps resulting in City conceding a number of goals.

Mangala left City for Valencia on loan and remains in the same form from when he departed the club.

CB – Tal Ben Haim

The name alone would send shivers down the spine of any Manchester City fan. Israeli international Ben Haim joined City from Chelsea in 2008 as Manchester City aimed to challenge for European places under Mark Hughes.

There are literally zero positives from his City career with his style of play resulting in a number of blunders, effortless performances and collecting a whopping £75,000 weekly wage.

His appearances caused a large number of fights here at the Tavern.

Ben Haim left City just a year later joining another revolution at Portsmouth however when the club went into a financial meltdown.

Oh dear.

LB – Glauber Berti

Who? Brazilian left-back Glauber Berti joined City the same day as Pablo Zabaleta in August 2008 after Mark Hughes opted to offer him a contract after a successful trial with City.

Berti became a fan favourite as he never played for the entirety of the 2008-2009 season until the final game against Bolton.

He came on against Bolton to a rapturous applause from the City faithful and our City regulars at the Transfer Tavern.

Glauber left City shortly after when he wasn’t offered a one-year extension with his departure sending City fans into mourning.

CM – Gelson Fernandes

Swiss international Gelson Fernandes was signed by Sven Goran Eriksson in 2007 as the ‘Sven Revolution’ took control that summer.

Fernandes made the move from FC Sion aged just 21-years old and was a massive failure at City.

Apparently a dynamic box-to-box midfielder was signed but Fernandes was anything but dynamic during his City career.

His inability to keep up with the pace in England saw him depart City after just two seasons.

Saint-Etienne came calling in 2009 and all parties agreed that a move was best for everyone. Gelson scored Switzerland’s winning goal in their most infamous victory when they beat Spain at the 2010 World Cup.

CM – Ousmane Dabo

When Sylvain Distin handed up his much-coveted number 5 jersey to Dabo, City fans became excited at the thought of signing a Lazio midfielder.

Dreams soon turned to reality for our City locals here at the Tavern as Dabo was a shambles at Manchester City.

A poor holding midfielder and even worse at controlling game, Dabo was a disaster for the Sky Blues.

After a training ground confrontation with Joey Barton, Dabo left City just months later when he returned to Lazio initially on loan before a permanent transfer occurred.

AM – Nery Castillo

Remember the Copa America in 2007?

Nery Castillo made all the headlines for his stunning displays for Mexico during the tournament and became linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona amongst others.

Castillo opted for the greed of Shakhtar Donetsk instead of challenging himself at European football’s biggest clubs.

After a few short months in the Ukraine, Castillo was so desperate to leave he made £1.5million from his own pocket to force through a loan move to Manchester City.

A dislocated shoulder suffered against West Ham consequently ruled Castillo out of action for the remainder of the 2007-2008 season.

FW – Bernardo Corradi

There has been butter knife’s sharper than Bernardo Corradi’s time at Manchester City. The Italian was signed by Stuart Pearce in 2006 from Valencia for £2million when City had little financial power.

Corradi was sent off on his City debut against Chelsea and it all went downhill from there. A home game against Fulham was the highlight for fans as he scored twice in a 3-1 victory.

He left the following summer for £1million and was never seen on English shores again.

FW – Jo

Once City’s record signing but Jo could even be labelled the club’s worst ever striker.

A £19million fee was paid to CSKA Moscow for the Brazilian services in 2008 and it didn’t take Jo long to make us believe he would have rather been anywhere else.

Just one league goal for City against Portsmouth in 2008 was Jo’s contribution before he made the jump to Everton on loan just six months later.

Jo returned to City after a series of loan spells with Everton and Galatasaray and contributed with a number of goals in the Europa League.

FW – Roque Santa Cruz

Mark Hughes was almost desperate to ensure the Paraguayan and him were reunited once again.

In 2009, it finally happened when Hughes paid Blackburn £17million for his services before a number of long-term injuries made it nearly impossible for him to succeed.

Ironically, Santa Cruz scored his first goals for City on Mark Hughes’ last game in charge for City against Sunderland in December 2009. He returned to Blackburn on loan once again in 2011 before a loan spell at La Liga side Real Betis.

According to reports by business news company Bloomberg, Southampton owner Katharina Liebherr is in talks with Chinese company Lander Sports Development about selling the club in a £200m deal.

Who?

Well, after China president Xi Jinping said he wanted to turn his nation into a major footballing force, Chinese companies have started to target taking over football clubs.

Lander Sports Development are one of those and supposedly have their eyes set on Saints, even though their main focus was on the sale and management of property until 2015.

Why would Liebherr want to sell?

When her father, Markus, saved the club by buying it in 2009, it was his project. Following his death in 2010, Katharina took over but even after everything she has done, it’s never felt like she’s the football fan that her father was.

At the end of the day she is a businesswoman, and with the club in the upper echelons of the Premier League, as well as participating in the Europa League this season, it appears to be the best time to see what offers she would receive.

Would a Chinese takeover be good for Southampton?

It’s hard to say, really. Nothing that the Saints hierarchy has done over the past few years would make you doubt them, but when you see that Wolves, Aston Villa and Thursday night’s opponents Inter Milan were all taken over by Chinese companies and have all sacked their managers already this term, the possible destabilisation of a currently well-run club would be a worry for supporters.

That said, there are some success stories too. Just look at Leicester under their Thai owners last season…

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Over the next few weeks, we’ll hear plenty of talk about a ‘winter break’ in England, but this week, the only football around is in Europe.

There’s a full fixture list in France, Italy and Germany in midweek, and nothing bigger than a huge clash between the German top two, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig. It’s German football’s ‘English week’ – that is, a week chock full of football! Who says the continentals don’t embrace the funny English customs?

France

They may not have been the biggest games in France this weekend, but they were surely the most decisive: PSG succumbed to yet another chastening defeat, this time to Guingamp, and Mario Balotelli fired Nice to another win to put them seven points clear of the champions.

In fact, it was a stunning weekend for Nice. Not only did they win and PSG lose, but so too did Monaco – who lost their heads in a 3-1 defeat to Lyon, producing a limp display with Prince Albert looking on from the stands.

An on-form Mathieu Valbuena fired Lyon to victory over 10-man Monaco, and that just crowned off a wonderful weekend for Nice, who are four points clear at the top of the table, and after Leicester City’s success in England last season, we know better than to write off Nice right now.

Elsewhere, St Etienne lost their usually very busy goalkeeper Stephane Ruffier to injury before the weekend, and his replacement, Jessy Moulin, got himself sent off within ten minutes of his big game. Down to ten men, Les Verts couldn’t stop bottom club Lorient from recording only their fourth win of the season – though it couldn’t lift them off the bottom of the table. And Marseille recorded their third victory in a row and move up to sixth place. Are they now back to being a force in French football again?

Germany

The first game of the weekend in Germany was the best: a fiery 2-2 draw between Borussia Dortmund and Hoffenheim.

That result means that Hoffenheim have maintained their unbeaten record in the league, and are one of only two teams in Europe’s top leagues to remain without a defeat. The only other unbeaten side is Real Madrid.

But this weekend, it was Dortmund who will see the point as a positive result. Reduced to ten men in the first half when they were losing the game, a point away from home to a side above them in the table is no mean feat.

Friday night’s game may have been the best spectacle, but Saturday saw RB Leipzig pile the pressure onto Bayern Munich by winning a day before Carlo Ancelotti’s side faced bottom side Darmstadt.

It took a goal late in the second half from Douglas Costa to seal a victory and bring Bayern back to the top of the table again. Both sides are locked on 36 points, with Bayern ahead on goal difference, so all eyes will be on the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night as the ding dong battle rages on.

Elsewhere, there was an important victory for Wolfsburg as Ingolstadt also won. Had the Wolves not beaten high-flying Eintracht Frankfurt, they’d have found themselves in the relegation zone by the end of the weekend.

Italy

The biggest game in Italy was arguably the biggest game in the world this weekend, as top met second in Turin.

Last week, the big game was between AC Milan and Roma, second versus third, and whilst Roma came out on top, you felt it was something of a battle to become the people’s champion. The people’s champion to face the menacing Goliath of a beast that is Juventus. But both were really only putting themselves forward to be the next representative of the mortals to fall at the sword of a frightening Juventus side.

In the end, Goliath wasn’t to be stopped, and Juventus’s victory puts them seven points clear of the chasing pack and almost certain now, surely, of yet another title. Edin Dzeko may be joint top scorer in Serie A, but that matters little to a well-oiled Juve.

Elsewhere, Roma’s weekend got even worse as Napoli hit an incredible scoring vein to put five past Joe Hart in the Torino goal, leaving last season’s tributes to the black and white beast only a point behind this season’s. Mostly thanks to Dries Mertens.

Spain

In Spain this week, the Barcelona derby saw Espanyol bested by Barcelona in a way so many teams have been before: by the brilliance of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta.

It puts some gloss onto the league table for the champions going into the winter break, given that Real Madrid were six points clear before the start of the weekend.

Real weren’t in action this week, though, thanks to their victory in the Champions League final last season. Their reward – aside from the usual rewards of Champions League glory – was another trip to Japan to win in the Club World Championship, and come back home again after the winter break with more games to play.

The table now makes better reading for Barcelona, albeit in a fairly hollow way. After yet another year of barely believable goalscoring, though, are we really going call the title race over?

The numbers are so crazy as to be genuinely funny.

Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid will spend Christmas in an unfamiliar sixth place, despite their 1-0 victory over Las Palmas, with the Champions League places occupied by Sevilla and Villarreal, whose victory on Saturday kept Valencia out of the relegation places at the other end. Athletic Bilbao’s Monday night victory over Celta means Atleti will spend the holidays looking over their shoulders, too.

With Real Madrid winning the Club World Cup (meaning Zinedine Zidane has more trophies than defeats as Real Madrid boss), Barcelona closing the gap at the top, Atletico Madrid celebrating a victory and Valencia celebrating 17th place, it was quite the weekend of denial and hollow celebrations in Spain… Feliz Navidad!