Don't overplay the importance of star English Premier League players
Even if Rooney, Bale and Suarez all left, their current clubs' ambitions might not be upset
The opening weekend of the English Premier League season might have provided a glimpse of the future for Manchester United, Tottenham and Liverpool when they all managed to win without players who have been talismanic in past seasons but could move to other clubs before the transfer window closes.
For various reasons, Wayne Rooney, Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez were all missing from the starting line-ups for their respective clubs on matchday one, although Rooney did come on in the 62nd minute with United already 2-0 up at Swansea and set up two more goals in the 4-1 win. The assumption, especially with Bale and Suarez, is that the departure of these top-class players would deal a serious blow to the ambitions of their current clubs, but last weekend's results challenged that viewpoint.
Liverpool, for example, have now won five out of six (with one draw) without Suarez in their line-up since the start of last season. Overall, since Suarez joined the club for the 2011-12 season, Liverpool have a win rate of 35 per cent with him in the starting team and 60 per cent without him. Nor do his goals have an overwhelming impact on Liverpool's win chances - fewer than half of their Premier League victories have featured goals by Suarez during his time at the club.
Statistics, of course, do not tell the whole story. There is no doubt Suarez is a top-class player and perhaps his impact would be greater in a better defensive side, as Liverpool have drawn nine out of 24 games in the Premier League when he has scored.
Unlike the ill-disciplined Suarez, Bale has been a near ever-present for Tottenham over the past two seasons, which makes it harder to assess what impact his departure would have. Of the seven league games he has missed since the start of the 2011-12 season, Tottenham have won four, drawn one and lost two, which is hardly conclusive evidence of how well they have coped without him.
But the importance of Bale's goalscoring to Tottenham's results is hard to dispute. Their record when he has started and scored is: won 19, drawn two and lost two at a win rate of 83 per cent. By contrast, when he has played and not scored, or not played at all, Tottenham's win rate more than halves to 38 per cent.