The Nutmeg Files...

Ah, the Almighty Nutmeg - the football trick for any occasion - a source of great joy for the perpetrator but dig-me-a-hole embarrassment for the victim.

It goes by many aliases ('janelinha' in Brazil, 'panna' in the Netherlands, 'the tunnel' in Germany, Spain and Italy and - more obscurely - 'the apron' in Hungary), but the aim is always the same: to place the ball through the splayed legs of your opponent and run off into the distance cackling. 

During the 2021/22 season, Playmaker will provide regular updates on which players across Europe's 'Top 5' leagues are having a merry old time threading the ball through their opponents' legs - and here's our latest installment. 

Before we launch into the present, let's quickly retrace the past and where the English footballing term 'nutmeg' came from. 

The widely-held consensus is that "nutmegged" was Victorian slang for being tricked or deceived by traders. Nutmegs were a valuable commodity and exporters would often place wooden replicas in cargo ships to trick buyers into thinking they'd received the full weight of nutmeg they'd ordered.

Fascinating. Anyway, onto the season's frontrunners in 2021/22 when it comes to 'Megs' - where the English top flight is distinguishing itself from its European peers. 

Most nutmegs (UEFA's 'Big 5' leagues; 21/22):

8 megs: Trincão (Wolves)

7 megs: Emmanuel Dennis (Watford), Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Raphinha (Leeds), Alberto Perea (Cádiz)

6 megs: Jens Petter Hauge (Eintracht Frankfurt), Vinicius Júnior (Real Madrid), Moussa Diaby (Leverjusen), José Luis Morales (Levante)

It is Wolves technician Francisco Trincão who currently tops the pile despite the Portuguese not featuring for Wanderers in their 1-0 win over West Ham in the English top flight last weekend.

Meanwhile, the other Premier League representative on the 'Megs' leaderboard, Watford's Emmanuel Dennis, added goals to his trickery with a strike in the Hornets' momentous 4-1 win over Man Utd last weekend. 

Until next time...keep those legs shut!