While the Spanish beaches are heaving with English tourists soaking up the sun and paella, the best players of La Liga could be heading for Merseyside, Manchester and London. Real Madrid are the champions of Spain. Some may argue that it wasn’t well deserved. The Spanish sceptics claimed that a combination of ego clashes at Barcelona and a fear of heights at Sevilla handed the title to Real. But the fact that Fabio Capello pulled off a most astonishing comeback, both for the club and himself, speaks volumes about the kind of fairytale season La Liga has just witnessed. Into that fairytale one can hardly dismiss the contribution of David Beckham – cast aside and left for dead, he almost single-handedly revived Real’s season and became the catalyst for their championship run. It has been said that in any good story, a hero knows when to die; but to be a god, you have to know when to come back from the dead. If that were the defining aspect of Real’s season, the god is on his way to Hollywood. And thinking about that last part leaves a bitter-sweet taste to the conclusion of the Spanish season. It looks like despite winning in the most dramatic fashion, Real Madrid will be broken up with not even Capello spared. So, too, will Barcelona, except for them, the reason for the disintegration will be their failure to meet expectation. Ronaldinho looked eclipsed by Kaka in the world footballing stakes and Barcelona fans will never accept second best. Samuel Eto’o proved a destructive force this season and will probably be replaced by Thierry Henry. Elsewhere, armed with clout and cash, the hawks of the English Premiership will be circling over the remains of La Liga, gleefully rubbing their hands and eyeing the pickings from not only Madrid and Barcelona, but also Sevilla, Valencia and every other Spanish club. I confess that I’m new to La Liga and haven’t been following it as religiously as some, so my observations are largely confined to the more prominent Spanish clubs. But still, here’s my rundown of who’s likely to show up in the Premiership from La Liga next season. Dani Alves - from Sevilla to Chelsea. Everyone in the Premiership wants him but only Chelsea can accommodate his style. It's no secret that Sevilla built their entire season around Alves’ foraging upfield – at times to the detriment of their defence. To ask Alves to play in a rigid formation will curtail what the player is all about. So any team wanting his services will need to find a way to plug the gap at the back. Chelsea can do that. Jose Mourinho already budgeted for such a contingency when he swooped for the similar Ashley Cole with John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Claude Makelele covering his sorties. And with Mourinho seriously lacking a right-back, there is no one better than Alves. Fernando Torres - from Atletico Madrid to Liverpool. Rafa has always needed a better target-man than Peter Crouch and the latter has been living on borrowed time until Benitez could get someone better. The fact that Crouch was left out of the Liverpool side in Athens, to be called upon so late in the game despite the Reds being down, speaks a lot about Benitez’s faith in him. It is an unfortunate way to be treated. David Villa - from Valencia to Manchester United. Probably the most complete forward. He isn’t big, but with a brain like he has, who needs to be? He plays like a combination of Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Sir Alex has the former and covets the later. Why not take Villa? Besides, who else but Chelski could afford him? David Silva/Jose Antonio Reyes - from Valencia/Real Madrid via Arsenal to Liverpool. If Arsene Wenger wasn’t blind to the shortcomings of Alex Hleb, he would be looking at moving heaven and earth to get Silva. David is young, skilful and looks a great prospect for the future. Arsene may have missed his progress, or find he has no money for him even if he did notice something. But surely Benitez, who has been on the lookout for wingers all season, would have recognised that someone special was surfacing in his old stomping ground. As for Reyes, despite a magical last game for Real, the player was a huge disappointment – much like Julio Baptista was for Arsenal. In any case, it is unlikely Arsenal will want him back, preferring to settle for the cash that he will bring. Enter Benitez, who has had farcical luck with finding left-wingers. Another try at another option couldn’t hurt Liverpool, could it? David Albelda/ Diego Milito - from Valencia/Real Zaragoza to Manchester City. This really depends on who will be managing City next year. Also, if said manager has sufficient Thai money to spend. But after losing Joey Barton – and thankfully for that – to Newcastle and with the departure of Sylvain Distin leaving huge leadership gaps, City will be in need of a fresh impetus if they are to make anything of themselves next season. Albelda and Milito will be part of the answer. Albelda is quiet, uncomplicated and efficient but nevertheless hard as nails; he is the type of mule on which to build and carry a team – much like Makelele is for Chelsea. Milito seems able to score goals entirely on his own. In an often misfiring Zaragoza midfield which consistently starved him of proper service, Milito still found 23 goals from nowhere – which should make him right at home in City’s line up. Sergio Ramos - from Real Madrid to Arsenal. With Christoph Metzelder on his way to partner the more established Fabio Cannavaro, Ramos will be surplus to requirements and can be lured to Arsenal. Rather, one can hope. Again, Ramos is a youngster Wenger missed and instead got Philippe Senderos. Whichever Arsenal scout was responsible for that cock-up surely needs to be replaced. Jose Guti and Antonio Cassano - from Real Madrid to West Ham in part exchange for Carlos Tevez, who is leaving West Ham for sure. His crusade to save the Hammers has not escaped the notice of every conscious scout in the footballing world. If Curbs was smart, he’d use Tevez as serious bargaining power to plunder what’s left of the Real war-chest. Maybe the best of the Madrid stars will not be persuaded to leave for east London, but Guti and Cassano need new ground to prove their worth in the face of dwindling perception of their abilities. Albeit West ham aren’t glamorous, but they have TV exposure. Pablo Aimar/Nikola Zigic - from Real Zaragoza/Racing Santander to Tottenham Hotspur. Aimar is brilliant at his best, but lately inconsistent and seems a shadow of the player he was once. Spurs have lacked a real creative midfielder after Michael Carrick left and they could do worse than gamble on Aimar, who may well be classified as a has-been who still retains a promise of what could still be. And Zigic's tall and big presence will be the perfect foil for Dimitar Berbatov (if he stays) in a way neither Jermain Defoe nor Keane can be. Now a word on a much-anticipated swap - Thierry Henry for Eto'o. Would losing Henry be a big loss for Wenger? Last season saw the worst of Henry, both because of his injury and because of his temperament. Wenger needs a leader to mould and lead his fragile team. Henry's moaning and envious glancing at other clubs with the potential to win the Champions League has proved he is not it. Granted Eto'o is no better, but then again the kids don’t look to him the way they used to Henry. At Arsenal, Eto'o's ego will not be in conflict with anyone else simply because there isn't anyone bigger than him and no one to steal his limelight. Also, in Eto'o, Arsenal may finally find a player who can play effectively alongside Emmanuel Adebayor. So there it is. Expect the best of La Liga to show up on Premiership TV next season. Would that ruin La Liga? I doubt it. Many Premiership stars will be crossing over as well, among them may well be Henry, Arjen Robben and Andriy Shevchenko. Now if you think the latter's failure at Chelsea will make him a laughing stock in La Liga, think Diego Forlan, Fredi Kanoute, Gio Van Bronckhorst etc etc. All major successes - and Gio a Champions League winner, even.
