If the Premier League wanted to pick a sure-fire way of confirming its identity as the “Greed Is Good League”, as the veteran football writer Brian Glanville memorably dubbed it, then pursuing the proposal to take a mid-season break in order to play lucrative matches in warmer climes is surely it.

Arguments have been put forward in favour of a winter hiatus in the past, mostly centred around the need to give players a rest after the rigours of the English holiday period, which is unmatched in its intensity in any of the other leading European leagues, many of which pause for Christmas, if not New Year as well. England’s poor performances in summer tournaments is often blamed on the relentlessness of the season-long grind. But exhausting trips across many time zones, be they to the Far East or the Wild West, are hardly going to improve that situation.

Then there is the tendency for some British players to let a little sun on their backs go to their heads, as a number of clubs will know all too well, after footballers have ended up falling foul of the law in other countries.

Inevitably, the last group of interested parties whose opinions will be taken into consideration are the fans, who already pour quite enough money into the coffers of the clubs through tickets, TV subscriptions and sales of club merchandise. Why should they face blank weekends traipsing round shopping malls when they could be supping Bovril in the stands at Ewood Park and the JJB Stadium, just because long-range consumers of Premier League product fancy seeing Morton Gamst Pedersen or Antoine Sibierski in the flesh and are prepared to pay for the privilege?

Has anyone asked the fans whether they fancy a mid-season break? To many, January is when the season begins in earnest, when the FA Cup gets into full swing and the races for the title, Europe and avoiding the drop begin to take their final shapes. Of course, if they are offered preferential rates to join their clubs on their trips abroad that might be different. But, given that this is all a money-making exercise, they would be well advised not to hold their breath.