On this week in transfers: in 2006, Nicolas Anelka signed for Bolton for £8m. In 2011, Emmanuel Adebayor signed for Tottenham on loan. And in 2014, Mario Balotelli signed for Liverpool for £16m.

Three unrelated transfers in different seasons, but three very related players. All three are related by one club, of course, Manchester City, but they are also related by something much less tangible, too. They are all cases of players who could have shaken world football to its core, but whilst the talent was world class, the attitude and application wasn’t a match.

It’s a well-trodden path. Footballer joins big club at a young age, makes more money in a week than he ever dreamed of making in an entire year, and naturally doesn’t know what to do with it. Suddenly the rails seem further away than they ever did before, and on the pitch, the potential never gets fulfilled. Something like that.

It’s a cliche and overly simplistic, of course. There’s no telling why potential isn’t reached, why talent stays unfulfilled. For some players, it is indeed the money, fame and lifestyle they can’t get used to. For others, they’ve ended up at the wrong club, in the wrong system or with a coach who couldn’t get the best out of them. For others still, maybe the potential we all thought we saw just wasn’t actually there to begin with.

Whatever the reasons, they’re unlikely to fit the cliches because footballers aren’t robots but humans with character flaws, personal lives and other complexities.

But for Anelka, Adebayor and Balotelli, the talent was never in doubt. But none of the three made the most of it.

Of the trio, perhaps Anelka had the best career, winning the league in several countries, the Champions League with Real Madrid and playing in another final for Chelsea as well as winning Euro 2000 with France.

Adebayor, by contrast played for Monaco, Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur over a period of 11 years – four clubs who each appeared in the Champions League last season – and has only one Copa del Rey winner’s medal to show for it.

Balotelli, somewhere in the middle, was part of Jose Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter Milan squad, helping to make history in Italy before taking part in Manchester City’s historic first Premier League triumph, too.

But careers, especially when it comes to raw talent, shouldn’t be qualified by trophies won, even if they often are. Football is a team game, and although individual awards are usually given out to players whose teams had the most productive seasons, that’s not a measure of singular talent.

It’s striking that these three players moved on the same day. Not because they are so similar, or because they moved to similar clubs – they didn’t. Even looking at the dates, so far apart, shows us very little. But the fact that all three moved on August 25th is to some degree significant. It shows that they weren’t the top tier signings their talent suggested they could have become.

They all moved right at the end of the transfer window, just days before its end, and at a time when most seasons have already started. Deals are done at this time of the year either because they’re lower priority to the transfers sealed at the start of the summer or because clubs are panic-buying. They are usually the dregs of the window, or the deals which are completed only after one deal has created a domino effect of players filling the gaps of departing stars.

But with the talent of Anelka, Adebayor and Balotelli, they aren’t the sorts of players who should have been in that position.They shouldn’t have been moving clubs in the penultimate week of the transfer window, when signings like Alex Buttner to Manchester United and Joey Barton to QPR were finalised. They should have been better than that. And yet, temperament is often just as important as talent.

It was only in one of those areas that all three of these strikers fell down.

Tottenham’s most significant win at Wembley since making it their temporary home in Europe at the start of last season was as relentless as it was thrilling. From the opening few minutes it was abundantly clear that there would be goals and by the quarter-hour mark, onlookers were already privilege to three; Spurs scoring from two doppelganger counter-attacks down the left wing and Borussia Dortmund’s Andriy Yarmolenko netting a delicious curler in between. Late on, Harry Kane would seal the result with a swerving, low strike for Tottenham’s third.

Unquestionably, Dortmund represent Tottenham’s biggest scalp to date at Wembley and provide the most encouraging signs yet that the season-long stint in the national stadium won’t derail the incredible progress the team have made over the last two seasons. It was also Mauricio Pochettino’s most impressive result in Europe since becoming Spurs boss; prior to last night, Spurs’ record at Wembley since the start of last season was one win from seven, while Pochettino’s win rate in continental competitions as Tottenham manager was just 43% – hardly high enough to successfully marauding through the many knockout rounds.

After a pulsating victory against a team that embarrassed Spurs in Europe two seasons ago in a 5-1 aggregate demolition, it was quite clear Tottenham’s players and their manager were glad to have the Wembley hoodoo off their backs – or at the very least, have the evidence to convince people to stop harping on about it. Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane both grimaced when the BT Sport interviewer quizzed them on the Wembley curse post-match and perhaps most tellingly of how not necessarily the record itself but certainly the relentless discussion of it has frustrated the Spurs camp over the last year, Pochettino told reporters; “I hope it will stop the talk.”

“Maybe people will stop talking about hoodoos like they have been for the past year. It’s fantastic not only because of three points. I hope it will stop the talk that has been around the team and the club. It’s massive, massive to start in that way. To get three points. It was so important to get the three points against a fantastic team like Borussia Dortmund, who have unbelievable players. It’s massive for our confidence. It’s massive to avenge everyone. It’s true that the game was so tough and they dominated the game. But we were very clinical and it was important we found a way to win.”

And yet, Tottenham’s valiant victory at Wembley didn’t follow the template of a typical Tottenham match; the 3-4-3 became much more of a 5-4-1, Spurs focused their energies on hitting Dortmund’s disorganised defence on the counter and the Lilywhites finished up with just 32% possession. It’s difficult to remember an occasion in which Pochettino’s Tottenham had so little of the ball, let alone an occasion in which they actually won. Last season, Spurs averaged the third-most of any Premier League side at 57.4%.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with finding a new way of winning, especially when the old one becomes dogged by a temporary abode. It’s rather telling of how difficult Tottenham have found it playing in their more recognised, energetic, ball-retaining style at home this season that they lost to Chelsea and drew to Burnley before trouncing Everton 3-0 at Goodison Park last weekend. The problem, however, is whether that way seemingly more suitable to Wembley’s large pitch, more distant stands and less-charged atmosphere can actually be applied to the rest of Tottenham’s home outings this season.

For starters, last night’s Dortmund side was a pale imitation of the one that reached the Champions League final under Jurgen Klopp in 2013 and even the Thomas Tuchel outfit Spurs came unstuck against in the 2015/16 Europa League. The Black and Yellows may be top of the Bundesliga table on goal difference but the quality has steadily drained out of the side over the last four years and more pertinent to last night’s fixture, some key players were absent – Marc Bartra, Marco Reus and Marcel Schmelzer to name a few. In fact, Dortmund’s injury list is nine men deep at this moment in time. Dortmund aren’t the fearsome proposition they once were in Europe, but they were particularly weakened last night.

Perhaps more instrumental in the defeat was Peter Bosz’s regardless insistence to employ a high line, something Tottenham appeared particularly set up to exploit and eventually played a hand in all three of their goals which were created by attacking the space behind the ever-pressing backline. Some teams will feel more tempted to employ similar tactics at Wembley this season than they would have at White Hart Lane last term simply because it still feels as much like a neutral venue as it does Tottenham’s home, especially in Europe and especially Real Madrid.

But on the whole, Tottenham won’t face that kind of line domestically every fortnight. In fact, as Chelsea and Burnley have already proved, most teams will come to Wembley packing out their own box and waiting to hit Spurs on the counter instead. Playing like the away team won’t work when Swansea, Barnsley and Bournemouth come to town in Tottenham’s next three Wembley outings. Last night’s performance was a fantastic performance from the Lilywhites, but the dynamics of the match were largely unique to the opposition.

Of course, as Pochettino himself alluded to, the psychological effects of the performance and result could have more impact than the tactics used. Whether it plagued the minds of his players or not, last night surely made Wembley feel a little more like home – shared memories are an essential part of tying communities together in any aspect of society. Footballers and fan bases in a new stadium are no different.

Yet, as the Lilywhites prepare to face a Swansea side that have conceded just two Premier League goals this season barring a final ten-minute capitulation against Manchester United and will take a particularly pragmatic approach into Saturday’s game, Tottenham still face the same question – can their way of playing be successful at Wembley, especially when there’s ten men behind the ball? Last night’s win may have raised confidence and left Tottenham fans feeling more acquainted with their season-long home, but it hasn’t found a solution to the most fundamental dilemma Spurs face at home this term.

A watershed moment or a false dawn? The answer comes this Saturday.

Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain failed to impress after starting England’s 1-0 win against Slovenia at Wembley on Thursday night, and Reds fans were quick to have their say on his latest performance.

Gareth Southgate’s side knew that three points would be enough to see them qualify for the World Cup in Russia next summer, but the team put in a below-par display before Harry Kane scored a last-gasp winner.

Despite struggling to break into Jurgen Klopp’s starting XI following his summer move from Arsenal, Oxlade-Chamberlain was handed an opportunity to impress Southgate on the right side of the three behind Kane, but he failed to make an impact and he was replaced by Jesse Lingard in the 64th minute.

Liverpool supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on his showing, and they weren’t happy.

While some think ‘he is going to go down as one of the club’s worst ever signings’, others described his addition as “pathetic”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

With England’s incredibly dreary World Cup qualification campaign finally out of the way, we can spend the next nine months relentlessly debating who should and who shouldn’t be part of Gareth Southgate’s squad for the tournament in Russia.

Indeed, the Three Lions may have qualified undefeated but it was hardly a masterclass from the Group F winners, who perpetually struggled to turn their dominance over underwhelming opposition into scintillating attacking displays.

That, however, only makes discussions over Southgate’s squad all the more intriguing, with so many places seemingly still up for grabs. Very few players appear to have guaranteed themselves a spot at the World Cup, so we could well see those stuck on the fringes sneak their way in before the end of the season.

Everton contract rebel Ross Barkley provides a classic example, especially in light of England’s lack of creativity in central midfield.

A long-term injury and uncertainty over his future at Goodison Park will continue to affect his game-time but if the 22-cap international, who Transfermarkt value at £22.5million, finds his way back onto the pitch, he’ll have a great chance of overtaking some rivals in the England pecking order.

So, Everton fans, would you take Barkley to the World Cup next summer? Let us know who would and wouldn’t make your squad by giving each of our suggestions a thumbs up or a thumbs down…

Playing for a big Premier League club brings a lot of scrutiny with it, but Hector Bellerin thinks that some of the criticism of Arsenal has been unfair.

This season, Arsene Wenger’s men have lost three of their nine top-flight games so far and are nine points off the pace of league leaders Manchester City.

The team were heavily criticised by pundits and fans alike when they were beaten by Stoke City and lost 4-0 to Liverpool in August.

The commitment and desire of some of the players’ was questioned after those results, and Wenger’s men also came under fire when suffering a 2-1 defeat to Watford a fortnight ago.

The North London outfit responded on Sunday by earning a 5-2 rout over Everton after coming from behind at Goodison Park, but the poor display from the Merseyside outfit was the main focus.

While speaking to the London Evening Standard, Hector Bellerin hit back at the critics, saying:

“I think it always is [an overreaction] with Arsenal. It doesn’t matter how we do. If we win it is always the other team’s fault and when we lose it is always our fault. We have just got to deal with it as we have been doing, play our game and show that we have got the potential, that we can win games like this one. I think everyone has seen that.”

Arsenal fans were split in their opinions of the full-back’s comments.

According to The Sun, Tottenham have stepped up their pursuit of Celtic defender Kieran Tierney, who has been impressing scouts around Europe for the last 12 months.

What’s the Story?

Mauricio Pochettino sent scouts to Munich last Wednesday to watch Bayern’s comfortable Champions League victory over Celtic. However, the Spurs representatives were not eyeing Robert Lewandowski or Arturo Vidal.

Instead, Celtic’s young defender Kieran Tierney was the reason behind the trip to Germany, with Tottenham reportedly interested in landing the 20-year-old at some point over the next two transfer windows.

This is not the first time that Spurs representatives have been seen watching the left-back. Scouts were also present when Celtic edged past Kazakhstan outfit Astana during the Champions League qualifying stages.

How good has Tierney been this season?

Expectations rose for Kieran Tierney when he was awarded the Scottish Premiership Young Player of the Season award in 2016/17. It wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the young defenders form drop somewhat this season because of this pressure.

However, the opposite has seemingly occurred and Tierney has actually improved markedly since last season. The 20-year-old, who is valued at £1.8million by Transfermarkt, has featured in 14 games for Celtic so far this campaign and has been one of the most consistent performances in Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Would Tierney be a good signing for Spurs?

One of the brightest talents in Europe, Tierney would certainly be an astute signing for Spurs, especially if he continues to develop his game.

The likelihood of this signing coming to fruition depends on Danny Rose and whether his recent feuds with Tottenham can be forgotten. If not, and the England international is moved on, Tierney would be a superb replacement.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, West Bromwich Albion are ready to reignite their interest in Fenerbahce midfielder Josef de Souza having failed with a £10.6m move during the summer transfer window.

The Daily Mail says that the deal stalled and Baggies boss Tony Pulis instead signed Grzegorz Krychowiak on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, but now he could return for the 28-year-old as he looks to boost his squad in the New Year.

The west Midlands outfit are without a win since August and the pressure is increasing on Pulis, whose side have picked up two Premier League victories this term.

That is a number that can be matched by 18th-placed West Ham United, and new manager David Moyes is another that could be busy during the January transfer window with de Souza an interesting potential addition to a Hammers side that find themselves in a relegation battle.

Here are three reasons the Irons should hijack West Brom’s bid to sign the Brazilian…

They need a defensive midfielder

One of West Ham’s biggest weaknesses this season has been in the centre of the midfield, and it is probably one of the reasons that previous manager Slaven Bilic was seemingly so keen to sign Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho during the summer.

The likes of Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble simply haven’t been good enough at protecting the backline – shown by the fact they have the worst defensive record in the Premier League this term – and with The Mirror already linking the Irons with Carvalho and Bournemouth’s Harry Arter in January, it seems that new boss David Moyes has identified this as a problem area too.

De Souza can play in either a central or defensive midfield role – he has featured more prominently in the latter for Fenerbahce during the current campaign though – and he could be exactly what the Hammers are missing in the middle of the park.

His qualities

According to WhoScored.com, de Souza’s strengths are his ability to win aerial duels, making blocks and interceptions, winning tackles and his passing – all traits that would ensure that he was success in the middle of the park for West Ham.

The Brazilian is 6ft 2in tall and strong, and he would certainly add some steel to an Irons midfield that has become way too easy to bypass at times this season.

A goal and an assist in 10 Super Lig appearances this term also show that he can have an impact in the final third if required, but Moyes would likely want him to sit and shield the backline if he did bring the 28-year-old to the London Stadium in the New Year.

Price tag

By the time January comes around de Souza will have just 18 months left on his Fenerbahce contract, and that could mean he could be picked up for a reasonable price if the Turkish giants are willing to sell in January.

If reports are to be believed West Brom came close to signing the Brazilian for £10.6m during the summer, and if the Irons could pick him up for something around that fee then it could be a much better deal than targeting William Carvalho again.

The Guardian reported in August that Sporting Lisbon wanted £37.5m for the Portugal international, and that price is unlikely to have dropped between then and January.

Do you agree, Irons fans? Let us know below.

This time last season, Chelsea had 34 points as they topped the Premier League and marched on to another title.

The last time Jose Mourinho himself was top at this stage was in 2014/15, when his Chelsea went on to win the league. That season, after 14 games, his side had 36 points and were top of the league. This season, his new club Manchester United have 32 points, not too far off where most teams who sit top would usually be at this stage: but Manchester City are breaking records.

But both Mourinho and City should know better than most just how quickly those points can evaporate: at the start of December 2014, City were six points behind Mourinho’s Chelsea side. But what happened next was really quite remarkable.

A stunning December saw Manuel Pellegrini’s team – complete with James Milner in a false nine position – close the gap on the leaders the whole way. The two clubs found themselves exactly level on New Year’s Day: both shades of Blues locked on the same number of points, the same number of wins, the same distribution of goals and the same goal difference. They were precisely equal on the first day of 2015.

That was the last time a team had 36 points or more after 14 games. This season, City have 40 – four more still.

And yet, City are currently only two points better off than Chelsea were in 2014/15 when it comes to their lead on the chasing pack: in other words, if the Mourinho’s new side can manage exactly the same December as Pellegrini’s City did in 2014, United would climb to just two points behind their crosstown rivals on New Year’s Day.

Despite clawing their way back, however, what happened to City next was disastrous: a second half of the season to forget was marred by injuries to Vincent Kompany. Centre-back issues reigned supreme as Martin Demichelis and Eliaquim Mangala failed to cope. They would come second in the table at the end of the season, but eight points back. And only after Chelsea – already crowned champions and able to relax – dropped four points in their final three games.

This season, things feel a little bit different. Guardiola’s City aren’t the same side as Pellegrini’s, and they appear to be one of the most formidable teams in Premier League history – certainly in a way that the 14/15 vintage wasn’t.

And yet there are still similarities beyond mere points tallies.

City’s problem that season was the aforementioned defensive crisis. This season, they are once again relying on a potentially unreliable Kompany. And in the absence of John Stones and Benjamin Mendy, they are again placing a lot of trust in Eliaquim Mangala and a midfielder turned defender, this time Fabian Delph.

Back in 2014, too, Chelsea fell to their first defeat of the season in early December, before drawing once and then losing a further time before the end of the festive period. This season, City are yet to lose, but have both Manchester United and Tottenham to play before the end of December, as well as Newcastle away – the very same fixture where Mourinho’s Chelsea first came undone.

That means it’s not a foregone conclusion that City win the league from here, and however different things seem this season, there’s precedent from one of the same teams and one of the same managers that things could change very quickly over the next month.

There’s still a lot of work to be done yet, though. City will have to prove in the coming weeks that they truly are a different team to the one that collapsed in early 2015 after clawing their way back to Chelsea so admirably. And Mourinho will have to prove that he can mastermind the wins to come from behind, too, given that his sides are usually happier with a lead to defend.

But whatever happens, there is enough evidence from not that long ago to suggest that this isn’t over just yet.

Rangers midfielder Graham Dorrans has been ruled out for a further three months due to injury, after undergoing ankle surgery this week.

The former Norwich City man has been out of action since October already, but a visit to a specialist in London led to quick surgery that means he will miss every match until the end of March at least.

It’s a major blow to the Light Blues, who aren’t exactly blessed with options in the middle of the park, relying on youngsters like Ross McCrorie and Jamie Barjonas in recent matches. While they’ve done well, it’s always a risk to rely on teenagers to provide consistency in long spells.

Dorrans started his Rangers career well, fitting right into the midfield before Pedro Caixinha left the club. Since then Graeme Murty has deployed a diamond midfield formation that would likely play to the 30-year-old’s strengths.

Supporters were gutted to hear the news and took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…

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Ever Banega has snubbed the chance to reunite with his former Sevilla manager Unai Emery at Arsenal and elected to stay in Spain, according to Marca via Metro.

What’s the latest, then?

The report says that the Argentine international was a tempting option for Emery because they had worked together before and he has a £17.6m release clause, making him a cheaper option in a window when the Gunners do not have tonnes of money to spend.

It claims that Arsenal will be disappointed in pursuit of the playmaker because he has told Sevilla’s hierarchy that he wants to remain in Spain, where his family is settled.

The major factor in that decision is reported as being Banega’s failed move to Inter two years ago, which has seemingly made him worry about the prospects of success, should he move again.

Who do you think will win the World Cup? Let us know here and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.

Andre Gomes is a younger alternative

Banega’s snub may prove to be a blessing in disguise for Emery; the Argentine is slightly too old to adapt to the pace of the Premier League now and Barcelona outcast Andre Gomes is the ideal alternative.

Reports have emerged in recent days of Emery’s interest in the £30m star, who has lost his way at the Nou Camp and struggled to get past their star-studded cast of midfielders but remains a class act.

Still just 24, he has plenty of time to improve and would add the ability to create higher up the pitch than Banega can. Emery must forget Banega and focus on securing the signing of Gomes now.