It seems that the results of the major teams in the European leagues push some of them to enter strongly in the winter transfer market (mercato), to sign new players and strengthen their ranks to return to competition for local and continental titles.

Although Liverpool - the English Premier League champions - tops the Premier League table, it faces fierce competition from Leicester City, Manchester United and Everton.

As for Real Madrid, the Spanish league champion, it ranks second in the league table behind Atletico Madrid with the same score, but "Al Atleti" has two games less.

In Germany, champions Bayern Munich are struggling to dominate the Bundesliga this season, amid intense competition from Bayer Leverkusen and Leipzig.

In Italy, Juventus, the "Calcio" champion, was the biggest loser so far, occupying the 6th place, 10 points behind leaders Milan.

As for France, the competition is fierce this season between leaders Lyon, second-placed Lille, and Paris Saint-Germain, third champion last season.

The dates of the winter Mercato differ in the five major European leagues:

England:

From 2 January to 1 February.

Italy:

From January 4 to January 31, 2021.

Spain:

From 4 January to 1 February 2021.

Germany:

From 2 January to 1 February 2021.

France:

From January 2 to February 1, 2021.