Football's food chain: The world's top 20 clubs ranked by where they sit after Carragher comments

There absolutely is a food chain in football - and almost half of the world's top 20 most attractive clubs to players and managers are English. Preston just missed out in 21st.

20) Roma There might be no better fanbase to play for than the absurdly passionate Romanisti when things are going well. That does mean the unbridled worship can flip when the tide starts to turn, but Roma have generally resisted the sort of collapse most modern giants suffer; they haven't finished lower than 8th in Serie A since 1997, and are currently unbeaten in third.

Life in the Italian capital isn't half bad either, while Champions League football and the undoubted Gian Piero Gasperini pull works in Roma's favour - even if it was all tarnished bythat Manchester United comeback. 19) Bournemouth It might be a contentious inclusion among more glittering, illustrious names, but in a snapshot ranking of transfer lure in 2026, Bournemouth deserve their place.

Any and all manner of Portuguese teams are waiting in the wings to shift the Cherries fromtheir pedestal as an eventual launchpad into the elite. But building their entire recruitment process around providing a platform towards 'bigger' teams makes Bournemouth one of the most tempting two or three-year projects (eurgh) for players and agents who will have noted how they did not stand in the way when vultures like PSG, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Rangers came calling last season.

It remains to be proven beyond doubt whether the model functions as well without Andoni Iraola in charge of polishing those rough diamonds, but Marco Rose did perform a similar role at Leipzig, Dortmund and Gladbach and is currently thriving. 18) Juventus There is no better place to go in Italy if money is a driving factor, with Juventus claiming the highest wage bill in Serie A.

But the Old Lady has shown her age somewhat in these fallow post-Scudetto years, being overtaken by a handful of clubs run more capably. This remains a team in transition, with uncertainty over their manager, sporting director and a transfer policy still contingent on player churn and loans with various clauses attached.

The name value and reputation undoubtedly remains but Juventus have also not made the Champions League quarter-finals since 2019 and have only two Coppas Italia to show for the last five seasons. They are, however, and likely will be until beset by some sort of inevitable scandal, Juventus.

17) Milan Devastatingly enough, these are not the 1990s so there are nopreposterous levels of Serie A spending, nor the attraction ofbeing discussed by a pastry-eating James Richardson in a wonderful Italian cafe. But the charm of metropolitan life persists, and Milan will always channel that as well as anybody.

There is also Ruben Amorim, whose obvious charisma and magnetism shone through even during that scarring experience at Manchester United. 16) Borussia Dortmund The established cliche used to be that Bayern would sign the best players from Dortmund, who in turn would shop in the smaller Bundesliga markets.