CREDIT: THE GUARDIAN
Gareth Bale is the latest of a number of world-class players to make the switch from England to Spain.

Football, soccer, whatever you feel like calling it, when being considered by the average person, is invariably related to one European nation before all others: England. There is good reason for this, the sport was formally invented there, it is the home to some of the biggest teams in the world game, and The Premier League, the country's top level competition, has long been considered the numberone destination for players who wanted to be successful on the world stage.

Since its inception in 1992, it has been graced with some of the world's best players, seeing representatives of 100 nations as of the most recent transfer window, and it has seen one of its teams contend in the Champion's League final eight times, being crowned Europe's best club on four of the occasions.

The Premier League, as the top flight of England, has three main competitors for the status of the best league in Europe, Italy's Serie A, Spain's La Liga, and the German Bundesliga, with at least one team from one of these leagues competing in every European final with the exception of the one held in 2004, which was contended by a French and a Portuguese side. The top players in the world can be located in one of these leagues, and each of these leagues has at least one team that can lay a claim to being the world's most passionately supported.

In recent seasons, however, there has been a noticeable trend developing in the English league, the top rated players, those who are truly world class, are starting to leave the country at a faster rate than they are entering, with the sunny leagues of Spain being the most popular destination for exiting players. Five years ago, the Premier League was the home to players such as Javier Mascherano, Luka Modric, and Cristiano Ronaldo, three of the most talented in a list of top level players who were showing off their skills in England at the time, and all of whom have since left the league to play in Spain.

Whether or not this has indicated a shift in the balance of power in the European league system is a topic that has been up for debate in the wider football community over the last few years, with some commentators claiming that the seeming exodus of world class talent is a damning statistic for the league. While the fact that world-class players have been flying to Spain seemingly faster than before is an undeniable truth, the claim that the quality of the Premier League is diminishing is not something that can be proven with any sort of conclusive result.

The players who are leaving England to play in Spain has only proven one thing when considering all cases, that Spanish titans Real Madrid and Barcelona are two of the most glamorous sides in football. In the last five years, the three players mentioned above have been among the 10 players that have made the switch to one of these two teams from England. Barcelona, in particular, over the last half-decade, have been without a doubt the most attractive, and successful team in Europe, and arguably the best squad of players to ever be assembled for a club team. This success, largely down to former coach Pep Guardiola and the world's best player in Lionel Messi, saw many of the best players in the game seeking to join forces with these two during their all-conquering exploits in the Spanish league during the 2000s.

Real Madrid on the other hand, has always been considered the flashiest team in the world, spending huge amounts of money on the most marketable players in the world, with the likes of Zinedane Zidane, Ronaldo (of Brazil), David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo having donned the famous white shirt in seasons passed. They have been the holders of the world record for most expensive transfer fee (the fee paid from one club to another in exchange for one of their players) since 2000, having broken their own record on four occasions since, with the most recent being the $139.5 million that they paid for Welshman Gareth Bale this past summer, offering their players wages that sees them pocket the GDP of a small country each week. This seemingly bottomless cash reserve has made Real Madrid an attractive destination for players, and they are living proof of the concept that money can buy success.

The English league is a 20-team competition, with six or seven teams that could realistically compete for the title, whereas the Spanish league has two teams that could win, both of whom are the sole reason that the Premier League's best are making the switch.