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With just the finals of the Europa League and Champions League to go in the 2018/2019 season, the attention of most football fans has been turned to the transfer window.
Although yet to get into full swing, there have already been some inroads in the window, with Borussia Dortmund undoubtedly being the pacesetters, having announced the arrival of three players to their squad as they seek to build on their second-placed Bundesliga finish last season.
The Premier League is by far the most watched and followed league in the world, with their advanced marketing and revenue model meaning there is significantly more interest and funds in England than the rest of the world.
Following closely is the Spanish La Liga which does not have the same financial clout, but boasts the presence of two of the biggest, most successful and most followed clubs in the world - Barcelona and Real Madrid.
Both leagues have an abundance of world-class players plying their trade in their domestic leagues and a common sight each transfer window is players trading both leagues.
Indeed, we have witnessed numerous players swapping La Liga for the Premier League and vice versa, with the world record fee for a player's transfer being broken twice (in 2009 and 2013) when Ronaldo and Gareth Bale left the land of the Queen for the allure of representing Los Blancos respectively, while players like Sergio Aguero, David Silva, Xabi Alonso, David de Gea, to name a few, have gone on to achieve legendary status in the Premier League from La Liga..
This summer window is bound to not be any different, as the transfer tabloids are awash with speculations linking a host of La Liga stars with switches to the Premier League. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at four La Liga players who could switch to the Premier League during this transfer window.
#5 Gareth Bale
Gareth Bale arrived at Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 as the world's most expensive player, with Florentino Perez sanctioning his purchase for the sum of £86.4m.
The Welshman had dazzled in the EPL with Tottenham and it was expected that he would bring this level of performance with him to the Santiago Bernabeu.
However, six years on and it has not largely panned out like that for the two-time PFA Player of the Year.
Despite winning a plethora of titles and showing his brilliance on occasion, the 29-year-old failed to fully win over the notoriously demanding fans of Los Blancos, as they saw him as not doing enough to justify his huge wages, while the fact that he is still not fluent in speaking Spanish did not augur well with a lot of people.
Things got to a head during the recently-concluded season, as Gareth Bale was made the scapegoat of Real's underperformance, failing to take the mantle in Ronaldo's absence.
Zinedine Zidane has all but stated that he has no plans for Bale moving ahead and with reports suggesting that Manchester United and Tottenham are interested in his services, a return to the Premier League could be in store for him.
#4 Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho is another big-money signing who has so far failed to pull his weight in La Liga.
The 26-year-old had been a long-term target for the Blaugrana and was signed in January 2018 for the hefty sum of €142m, making him the most expensive player of all time for the Catalans and the third costliest in history.
The Brazilian international was signed to be the long-term replacement for the legendary Andres Iniesta and he performed significantly well in his first half season, raising expectations ahead of his first full season.
That proved to however be a false start, as the former Liverpool man totally struggled throughout the course of the 2018/209 season and found himself the target of boos from the Barcelona faithful.
His position at the club is so untenable that it has been suggested that he is seeking a move away from the Nou Camp just over a year after arriving and with Manchester United and former club Liverpool rumored to be interested, a move back to the Premier League could offer a reprieve from his Barcelona nightmare.
#3 Malcom
After the shenanigans surrounding his transfer involving Barcelona, Roma, and Bordeaux, Malcom failed to justify the €41m the La Liga giants paid for his services.
The Brazilian had been highly sought after during his time in Ligue 1, drawing interest from a host of major European clubs including Arsenal and Liverpool, but he showed nothing of his promise during the course of his first season at Barcelona.
He failed to fully convince Ernesto Valverde of his usefulness and found himself out of the first team on occasion, having to make numerous appearances off the bench.
In total, he made 24 appearances in all competitions for the Blaugrana scoring four goals and with reports linking Barcelona with a move for Antoine Griezmann, Malcom would find further chances hard to come by which is why he would do well to take advantage of interest from Everton and Tottenham.
#2 Junior Firpo
Junior Firpo is currently one of the most sought after left-backs in Europe, following his displays with Real Betis in La Liga.
The 22-year-old arrived Spain as a six-year-old, joining Malaga's youth academy in 2014 aged 18, and subsequently became the first Dominican to appear in La Liga when he made his Spanish top-flight debut for Los Verdiblancos in February 2018.
Over the next year, Firpo impressed significantly, breaking into the Betis first team, making 30 La Liga appearances and cementing the right-back spot as his own.
Firpo holds.citizenship for both the Dominican Republic and Spain and has represented La Furia Roja at Under 21 level, making one appearance for Spain's youth setup.
He signed a contract extension with Real Betis until 2023, but his performances have been enough to convince some Premier League clubs including Arsenal and Manchester City to signify interest in his services.
#1 Rodri
Manchester City's impressive squad depth means that almost every player in Pep Guardiola's setup is dispensable, but perhaps the one exception to this is Fernandiinho.
The Brazilian international has proved himself an integral part of Pep Guardiola's setup over the last three years, going about his holding midfield duties with the minimum of fuss.
The 32-year-old Brazilian international has proved himself invaluable to Pep's system over the years, with his value best being exemplified by the fact that of the five games which Fernandinho has missed over the last two seasons in their Premier League triumphs, City have lost four.
It is imperative that the club seeks a replacement for the former Shakhtar Donetsk man moving forward and it is here that Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodri steps in.
The 22-year-old Spanish international returned to the Los Colchoneros last summer for the sum of €20m and played his way into the starting lineup for Diego Simeone, making 46 appearances in all competitions for the side.
The Spanish international has emerged as a concrete target for Manchester City, as the club sees him as a potential long-term replacement for Fernandinho and as such, Rodri could be strutting his stuff in the Premier League come next season.
