Reports this morning have claimed that Juventus have demanded that their new signing Carlos Tevez lose weight before the Serie A season gets underway.

It is believed that the former Manchester City striker was deemed to be overweight during his medical and so has been put on a programme to help him shed a few pounds.

Carrying some extra baggage has not been a problem for some footballers down the years though, as our five selections below highlight.

Neville Southall

Even when he started to pile on the pounds at Everton, Southall's reflexes were still impressively sharp. It caught up with him eventually though and he looked extremely uncomfortable when asked to play between the posts at Bradford City when he was a coach at Valley Parade.

Lee Trundle

The phrase 'he's got good feet for a big man' could have been coined for Trundle. In fact, the attacker had brilliant feet and was a real favourite with the Swansea City faithful.

Paul Gascoigne

Gazza's problems with alcohol and depression these days are there for all to see. However, during his football career, there were few better players in possession of the ball. He may have been overweight towards the end, but that still didn't stop him turning in eye-catching performances.

Ronaldo

While his talent was undeniable, Ronaldo's mental state was often called into question. A series of injuries with Real Madrid, AC Milan and then back in his native Brazil got the better of him, as did the pies!

Diego Maradona

Has there ever been a bigger global superstar in football that caused more controversy than the Argentine? He was slender when he broke onto the scene, but by the time that he retired, he was rather hefty. In an interview some years ago, he claimed that he would have been even fatter had he not used cocaine!