Regardless of what happens during these last eight matches in the English Premier League, the rise of Leicester City is a story that will stay as one of the greatest surprises in league history.

Since the Premier League started being called the Premier League, the only title run that rivals this Leicester stunner was Blackburn’s 1994-95 title. Even so, Blackburn's title race wasn’t as long of a shot as what we have seen this year from Leicester, because the Rovers were the runners-up in 1993-94.

Under the reign of Louis van Gaal, Paul Scholes has labeled Manchester United a shamble, a team devoid of creativity, risk and and an unmitigated disaster. His criticism of the current regime has been so fierce that he’s been forced to deny having a personal bias against van Gaal and the current crop of Manchester United players. 

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has a rare combination of ability and speed, and now it seems he may bring this combination to Real Madrid. In a recent interview with beIN Sports, we learn Aubameyang promised his grandfather that he would play for Los Blancos one day.

The Ping Ping Chinese Football Association Super League, that is, China's first division soccer league, began play on Friday with 16 teams playing 30 games from now until December.

China wants to be a powerhouse in this sport. This country has made some efforts to be recognized in world soccer.

In fact, Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a state plan for China to host the 2030 World Cup and win the World Cup before the end of the 21st century. And he also has taken selfies with players like Sergio Aguero.

With Pep Guardiola coming to Manchester City, so too must come the media storm of transfer rumours. It feels like pretty much every player who has ever been somewhat associated with Guardiola has been linked with a move to the Sky Blues in the past month and Gerard Pique is no exception. However, the veteran Barca defender had some surprising words to say in that regard. 

"My love for Manchester United is too great for me to sign for City," said Pique. "Even though Pep is a great coach." 

This January’s transfer window was something of an oddity. Instead of the usual headlines involving the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea or Paris Saint-Germain, the biggest story came out of China. The Chinese Super League, CSL, spent $278 million during the winter transfer window, outspending the $250 million dropped by the Premier League. So, we decided to take a look at the top paid footballers in China today.

John Terry is a dick.

This is not a particularly controversial opinion to have, more of an accepted notion that pretty much everyone on earth who is not a Chelsea supporter believes (and even the Chelsea supporters know this, deep down in the bowels of their consciousnesses.)

Why is John Terry a dick? To borrow a line from the United States Declaration of Independence, we hold this truth to be self-evident. I mean, just look at the guy.

How much value can be gained in the January transfer window? Well, it all really depends who you ask and the circumstances surrounding any given transfer.

Football pundits, coaches and administrators in Germany and further throughout the continent see spending in January as a sign of weakness that reflects a complete lack of planning from a club.

Three of the best Colombian players have just left well known clubs from Europe and landed in the Chinese Super League, where their new teams paid a lot of money for them.

The latest to sign to play in the Far East is Jackson Martinez. Martinez failed to convince at Atletico de Madrid, the team that bought him last summer for €35 million and has now sold him for €42 million euro to Guangzhou Evergrande. Atletico made €7 million profit on Martinez.

Grading transfer window performances is a stupid endeavor. No one can say for sure whether a club has performed well or poorly because the players haven't even taken the pitch yet for their new clubs.

But news outlets do this anyway because they can't think of any better use of time, and the grades get clicks, and clicks get money.

Undoubtedly media organizations are already in the throes of typing out their grades for this January transfer window, even though it hasn't even ended yet.