From the Assistant Editor

“If you look at that schedule, it isn’t showing any care for players’ physical welfare.”

It is difficult to disagree with Tottenham defender Eric Dier. To say that games are coming thick and fast this season is an understatement, as football attempts to recover from the impact of COVID by squeezing in as many matches as possible. As Keir Radnedge points out on page 14, the players need protecting.

The games keep on coming though, and we’ve tried to keep across all the major ones in the coming weeks.

Starting with the Champions League. In the first of two issues previewing the 2020-21 edition, Nick Bidwell picks out the players that could make a name for themselves in this season’s competition (page 32), and poses ten questions lingering over the teams (page 42).

There is more international action too, with the Euro 2020 play-offs (page 72) and World Cup 2022 qualifying updates from Asia, Africa, South America and CONCACAF (page 80).

Of course, what happens on the pitch is just a sideshow to what really matters in modern football: the transfer window. As well as our usual round-up of the ins and outs from around the world (page 18), we’ve picked out the 30 moves that have caught our eye this summer (page 58), and taken a closer look into the move that didn’t happen: Leo Messi’s failed attempt to leave Barcelona. Sid Lowe explains how the saga played out on page 54.

Overall, if there is a theme to this issue, it is talent; from picking out the exciting youngsters heading to the top (Chris Richards, page 62), to revealing how the older established stars got there (Robert Lewandowski, page 20;

Blaise Matuidi, page 46).

We hope you enjoy.

Jamie Evans, Assistant Editor

If there is a theme to this issue, it is talent