With the 2018 tournament in Russia raking in a record-breaking 3.5 billion viewers worldwide, the World Cup can single-handedly boom or bust a player’s stock in the following transfer market. Hence, there is no better platform to present yourself to potential employers as a footballer than the global showdown.The upcoming January transfer window will show us some of the current stars of the sport moving to different clubs and they will do all they can in Qatar to present themselves in the brightest of lights.The biggest star among them is of course Cristiano Ronaldo, who pretty much stamped a one-way ticket away from Old Trafford with his controversial interview in which he had nothing but words of criticism for the Manchester Reds. It’s no surprise that the Manchester United outcast chose this week to drop his explosive bombshell talk with Piers Morgan to the world.Manchester United want to get rid of the Ronaldo “illness” – but they’re killing themselves in the processThe Portuguese star is destined to leave Old Trafford after publicly besmirching the club’s reputation and clubs such as Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon and Newcastle are mentioned as his potential destinations. If that will in fact happen, it remains to be seen but chances are slim that any of the clubs above are ready to absorb the negative hype surrounding CR7. And of course, his reported 570,000-euros-a-week contract. Another player interested in looking for different club surroundings is Memphis Depay. And it seems no matter how well Depay is performing for his domestic side, he always delivers the goods for Holland on the international stage.A few eyebrows were raised when the 28-year-old was named in Holland’s World Cup squad, as he had not played a single minute of football since picking up an injury in September, but the selection demonstrates just how highly he is viewed in their national set-up.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Boasting a fruitful record of 42 goals in 81 caps, Depay has been a crucial aspect of Louis van Gaal’s side throughout his tenure as manager, providing Holland with a cutting edge in attack.With a strong World Cup display in front of goal, Depay could edge closer to Robin van Persie’s record tally of 50 for Holland and remind European giants of his goal-scoring talents at top level.As for Barcelona, Depay was struggling to break into Xavi’s first team before the injury, only featuring in three cameo appearances at the start of the campaign.Bolstering their front three with star attackers Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha this summer, it seems unlikely Depay is part of Barcelona’s long-term future, and the Dutchman will no doubt be seeking a move in January. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6816069##A Chelsea duo found themselves on this ‘list’ – Moroccan Hakim Ziyech and the captain of the USA team Christian Pulisic.At the last World Cup in 2018, Ziyech was one of the most highly sought-after talents across Europe, having almost marshaled Ajax to the Champions League final before the tournament. For the Atlas Lions, the winger is arguably the country’s talisman while at club level – there’s no denying Ziyech is a small fish in a big pond.The 29-year-old recorded only two starts across all competitions this season and it is evident the Moroccan is no longer part of Chelsea’s long-term plans for the future.The Blues’ American shares a similar situation at Stamford Bridge. Pulisic has also struggled for game time this season, starting just three Premier League matches all season so far.However, it’s likely minutes will not be a problem for the unsettled Chelsea star at the World Cup, as USA bid to surprise a few with their talented young squad.##NAJAVA_MECA_6816066##More Premier League talent can be seen here in the form of Belgium’s Youri Tielemans. The whole world expected for Tielemans to leave Leicester this summer, especially as the Foxes made numerous changes to their squad. He remained at King Power Stadium but it seems increasingly likely that the midfielder will finally leave next summer at the very least, considering his contract is set to expire in June.Back to La Liga, and back to the Portuguese. Former Golden Boy award winner and Atletico Madrid’s most expensive purchase, Joao Felix, is simply not clicking with Diego Simeone. Having fallen out of favour this season, Felix has only started just five league matches under Cholo this campaign, struggling to justify his whopping 125 million euros price tag.In what has emerged as the most challenging period of Felix’s career so far, the World Cup could well become a make-or-break tournament for the 23-year-old as he bids to revive his career.##NAJAVA_MECA_6816040##
