Carlo Ancelotti was asked if the £63 million signing of James Rodríguez was necessary for Real Madrid considering they just won the Champions League.

“Madrid’s history will tell you that they always want to have the best players and ones with a future," said Ancelotti. "We have signed one of the World Cup’s stars. You need these kinds of players for the future, not just for the present, too.”

James will join Real Madrid for training on August 1st.

“James finished the World Cup on 30 June and needs a month of holidays and a break,” Ancelotti said. “He will start on 1 August with Benzema and Varane.”

Luis Suárez's former Uruguay coach believes he will contribute to Barcelona in his own ways and not play second fiddle to Lionel Messi.

"Luis Suarez will not be the servant of Messi," Martin Lasarte told Sport. "I see Luis contributing collectively, but not as a servant to others."

Suárez will not be available early in the season due to his ban from FIFA.

"It's tremendous! In this attack there is talent, scoring power, personality and winning character," the current Universidad de Chile boss added.

"Now the work will be for coach Luis Enrique, who must get on top of the talents and egos in each one of them."

Arsène Wenger surprisingly included Chris Willock in Arsenal's XI on Saturday against Boreham Wood. Willock is just a 16-year-old winger.

“He’s a very young boy and I wanted him to have a run out with the big boys to see how much he has to do,” said Wenger. “But technically and tactically he integrated very well. Of course it’s natural that he lacks a bit of power at that age but when he gets that he will be a very interesting player.”

Cesc Fábregas, Jack Wilshere and Serge Gnabry were all given opportunities to press their first-team claims in pre-season friendlies at the age of 16.

Mario Götze was sent into the match as a substitute for Germany by Joachim Löw with the instructions to show the world he's a better player than Lionel Messi.

“Götze is a miracle boy,” Löw told reporters after the game. “He can play in any position and has superior technical qualities. I know he is able to decide a match, and he scored a great decider today.”

Matthias Sammer, a native of Dresden in East Germany, played a part in both the unification of the national team and the development of Götze.

The German Football Association hired him as technical director in 2006. Sammer’s specific task was to guide the youth teams, from the ages of 11 to 18, under the direction of Löw.

Götze, born in Bavaria but a product of Borussia Dortmund’s coaching academy starting at age 8, came under Sammer’s wing. Sammer identified the young Götze as “one of the best talents, ever, in Germany” from an early age.

And when Sammer moved on from his national team role to become sports director at Bayern Munich, responsible for recruiting, he went after Götze. The buyout clause in his Dortmund contract cost about $50 million.

Lionel Messi headlines the WhoScored Best XI leading up to the World Cup Final with a rating of 8.77.

Arjen Robben ranks second, followed by James Rodriguez, Neymar and Miralem Pjanic.

Tim Howard is in goal behind a back line of Ron Vlaar, Stefan de Vrij, Serge Aurier and Ricardo Rodriguez.

Thomas Müller, who has scored five goals with three assists, is also on the team.

Robert Lewandowski was officially introduced as a Bayern Munich player on Wednesday, months after an agreement was in place for him to leave Borussia Dortmund.

"It was time to take the next step," the 25-year-old striker told reporters. 

"I knew that Bayern Munich are of the level where I can be an even better player and win even more titles."

There has been some talk that Lewandowski isn't the best fit for Pep Guardiola's system considering he often likes to play with a "false nine."

Bayern sporting director Matthias Sammer is in no doubt that Lewandowski will fit right in.

"He is incredibly flexible and has all the attributes that a footballer needs," he argued.

Germany will not move Philipp Lahm back to fullback despite their issues playing four center backs.

Lahm has been transformed into a midfielder by Pep Guardiola over the last season at Bayern Munich. Lahm plays a central passing role, similar to Xavi during his prime at Barcelona and for Spain.

Germany seemed to play better when Lahm switched to fullback, while Sami Khedira came on in midfield.

"I have made up my mind already on Philipp Lahm's role," Low told Germany's Die Zeit newspaper. "And I am sticking by it to the very end.

"Philipp Lahm has been a leading figure for us in recent years and he's been playing at the highest level for a decade, but he will only move back into defence if we have a problem on the right, at which point I might say 'okay, now it's up to Philipp who can push forwards down the right.'

"But that would only be an emergency scenario, and we need to prevent there being an emergency."