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Ajax striker Luis Suarez has been mooted as a target for big name Premier League clubs Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, but has been linked most prevalently with Manchester United.

The Uruguayan has become hot property this summer after his performances for both his club and his country in the World Cup.

The 23-year-old enjoyed a great 2009/10 season for Eredivisie club Ajax scoring an astonishing 49 in 48 games. Because of his goal record he has naturally caught the eye of Europe’s elite, but his stock could rise even further as his native Uruguay are having a great World Cup campaign and are due to meet South Korea in the second round.

Suarez comes with a hefty price tag, which is believed to be around £30+ million and some are critical of the Dutch top flight and some of its stars (remember Mateja Kezman?).

Now that Wayne Rooney is the main man in the Red Devils’ setup I am not sure where Suarez could fit into a side where the former Everton man has been so prolific as a lone striker. However, Suarez has a great relationship with Uruguay and Atletico Madrid’s ex-United forward Diego Forlan at international level.

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On the other hand, Manchester United seemed to struggle at times last season when Rooney was absent through injury. Some of the Old Trafford faithful may blame the indifferent form near the end of season (suring Rooney’s layoff) which ended up relinquishing their run as Premier League champions.

The one criticism I would have of Suarez at times would be the fact that his final product (when playing as a supporting striker) can seem hurried, wasteful or not good enough as he showed in his opening World Cup game against France.

Suarez is reportedly happy in Amsterdam, but says if it’s a United or Barcelona in contact with you then you take notice:

“Those are the elite teams of Europe. When they are on the phone you listen.

“But for a club in a category below that, I will not leave. I am having too much of a good time at this club. I feel loved and appreciated and that feels good.”

The Old Trafford outfit will have to be careful with their money though as Dimitar Berbatov is already regarded as a big money flop (a little unfairly in my opinion) that cost in the excess of £30m.

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With United’s £1.1 billion debt as revealed by Sir Alex Ferguson’s favourite TV show Panorama, who suggest that the debt the Glazer family has run up may be catching up with them, the price may be too high. However, judging from his performances for club and country he would surely be a great buy for any of the clubs linked with him.

Would the Manchester United fans like to see their club break the bank for Luis Suarez, or is there enough striking talent at the club already?

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has praised his team after they won the North London derby 2-1 on Saturday, and has stated the win was deserved, despite Arsenal having more possession.

Goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Kyle Walker gave Spurs the three points, with Aaron Ramsey scoring for the visitors.

Despite The Gunners’ having the lion’s share of the ball, especially in the first half, Redknapp feels the win was justified.

“They had a lot of possession in the first half. It was difficult. They played three in midfield,” he told Sky Sports after the game.

“So they were always going to hold the sway in terms of possession. We had the two (players) in there. But we got the goal before half-time. To be honest, I nearly changed it (Spurs’ formation) at half-time. I nearly made the change and thickened us up in there.

“But I thought, ‘well, let’s see how we go’. They (Arsenal) got off to a better start in the second half, got the goal, and watching the game you would have thought, ‘they are in the ascendency. We could be in trouble’.

“But we upped it. We got better and stronger and we took over. We deserved the win in the second half, I thought we were excellent. We had all the good chances,” he stated.

Walker’s long distance strike proved to be the winner, and despite a mistake by Wojciech Szczesny, Redknapp was full of praise for the young defender.

“He is a great attacking full-back, he loves to get forward. It was a good strike from Kyle. He has done ever so well, he has had a good start to the season,” he concluded.

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Spurs have a week off now for international duty, and travel to take on Newcastle at St James’ Park in their next game.

By Gareth McKnight

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Every year the club v country row reignites, particularly when there are international friendlies as England had the other week. Fans and members of the press regularly sympathise with managers having to loan out their top players for five days, for what is essentially a learning expedition.

Increasingly we are seeing more and more Premier League players dropping out of squads with minor illnesses and injuries. Only to play for their club days later.

It is obvious an international manager would want access to that country’s best players but injuries sustained on international duty are so often the cause of bigger issues to their club. So are managers such as Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini wrong to forge a sick note in order to safeguard their star men? And what exactly can be done to halt this increasing trend?

Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21s were badly affected with 11 players being withdrawn from their squad to face Italy. Although the former England defender put this down to the number of games played in the Premier League stating: “The amount of games in England is a problem to us.” Concluding that: “We have to get a balance between club and country.”

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He has a point; with last season’s top four teams playing an average of six games each in all competitions during the month of February. Each club plays four games in the tightest Premier League race in years, so is it any wonder these clubs want to protect their first team players? Not forgetting that Arsenal have the Carling Cup final against Birmingham City four days after their league match against Stoke City.

Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie of Arsenal; Peter Crouch of Tottenham Hotspur; Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa and Ben Foster of Birmingham City were all players unavailable for their countries but able to play for their club within the next seven days. They are merely a few of many.

In England these withdrawals are sometimes cited as the reason for the country’s lack of international success with many England managers over the years complaining about the lack of understanding and support from club bosses. But it is hard to feel sorry for the FA when it is the clubs that are paying these stars’ wages and often end up with injuries to key players, with many spending months in recovery before making another appearance for their club.

It is natural that managers may fret about the number of injuries players collect while on international duty; in the four years following 2002, 5 different players broke bones in their feet while playing for England. This is nothing new, Bryan Robson was a big miss for England in the 1986 World Cup after dislocating his shoulder in a warm up game. The most recent and notable injury to an Englishman sustained while away with his country would be Dean Ashton; after breaking his ankle in 2006 he missed the whole of the season for his club West Ham United. And although he did return for his club a year and a half later, he was never the same player and retired at the age of 26. As it stands West Ham are still awaiting their financial compensation from the FA regarding the incident.

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This is not a sequence of events confined to England; Djibril Cisse of France, Phillipe Senderos of Switzerland, Thomas Vermaelen of Belgium and Stuart Holden of the USA have all returned to their clubs will long-term injuries following international duty.

Of course you cannot wrap the players in cotton wool but when it comes to a choice between club and country, a way needs to be found for the two to work in unison. Otherwise one will have to come first and who knows which one that will be?

England captain Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of the World Cup finals after sustaining a knee injury in training on Friday.

The Manchester United defender was taken to a local hospital for medical tests after sustaining the knock and left the establishment on crutches.

National team coach Fabio Capello was coy over Ferdinand's chances of making the Group C opener against USA on Saturday June 12 in his daily press conference but this was before the results of the scan and the outcome has since determined the extent of the problem.

With the experienced 31-year-old now out of the picture, the captain's armband will be handed to Liverpool talisman Steven Gerrard while Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson will step into the 23-man squad in Ferdinand's place after he was placed on standby when the news broke.

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Dawson, who excelled during Spurs' fourth-placed Premier League finish last term, was initially cut from Capello's initial 30-man squad but has earned an instant recall.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Roy Hodgson has named his England squad for their friendly with Italy next week and it seems he is more than willing at giving the youngsters an opportunity to show their worth.

Hodgson, naming his first squad since England’s European Championships campaign, has decided the trip to Switzerland is the perfect opportunity to give the next generation of England squads a chance with Tottenham duo Steven Caulker and Jake Livermore joined in the squad by Jack Rodwell, Jack Butland, Ryan Bertrand, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is also recalled to the international stage after rejecting the chance to be on the standby list for this summer Euros, a list that included Adam Johnson who has also made the squad.

Very much an experimental squad, Frank Lampard is given a chance to show Hodgson that he still has a lot to offer after missing the bulk of the Euros with injury along with Kyle Walker and Gary Cahill who are also recalled.

The likes of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have all been left out along with regulars Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson. It seems Rio Ferdinand’s England career is over after he is once again not included.

Squad for friendly v Italy:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Jack Butland (Birmingham City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Jake Livermore (Tottenham Hotspur), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

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Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).

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You can probably name every manager in the Premier League – but what about their trusty right-hand man who stays in the background despite playing a vital role in the club’s success.

An assistant’s role is a complex and challenging one. He has to be the manager’s right-hand man, and yet he’s got to be the players’ trusted confidante. A good assistant can form the bridge between the team and the manager and they tend to be closer to the players normally after having a successful career in the game.

They tend to be ex pros who performed at the highest level of the game – often in contrast to the manager – for example Pat Rice and Arsène Wenger at Arsenal, Joe Jordan and Harry Redknapp, or the former impressive partnership of José Mourinho and Steve Clarke at Chelsea.

Some of these assistants have had a fling at management but it hasn’t quite worked out. Perhaps they didn’t get along with the intense media scrutiny that being a manager has, or perhaps they weren’t good at making the unpopular decisions. Whatever it is, here is their moment of fame as we show our appreciation for the top henchmen in the Premier League.

Click on Pat Rice to see the selections

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Inter Milan climbed to third place in Serie A on Thursday with a 3-0 win over bottom side Bari at the Stadio San Nicola.

The result makes it six wins from seven league games for Inter under new boss Leonardo, and after an indifferent start to the season the defending champions are now just seven points behind league leaders AC Milan with a game in hand.

Inter would have been expecting a victory against lowly Bari, but had to wait until the 70th minute to break the deadlock, when Moroccan midfielder Houssine Kharja played a neat one-two with Samuel Eto’o before beating Bari goalkeeper Jean Francis Gillet with a low shot from an acute angle.

That was where the scoreline stayed until the fourth minute of injury time when a through ball from Thiago Motta played Giampaolo Pazzini into space and the striker cut inside his marker before firing a low shot past Gillet.

A minute later it was 3-0 when a Javier Zanetti cross was chested down by Thiago Motta into the path of Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder who blasted home from close range with the last kick of the game.

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The loss leaves Bari five points adrift of Brescia – their next opponents – at the bottom of the table, while Inter welcome fifth-placed Roma to the San Siro on Sunday.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho rang the changes for the trip to Bournemouth – making seven in all – and gave hope to some of his fringe players that they might force their way into contention for the FA Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Saturday.

In contrast to Saturday’s opponents – Mauricio Pochettino also made alterations but then saw his team held 1-1 by Brighton – United were more fluid as a result and ran out 2-0 winners, with Chris Smalling and Romelu Lukaku securing the win in a routine victory.

Second place looks all but theirs now so their attention can be fully turned to the FA Cup – United’s only remaining chance of silverware – and one man who did his chances of securing a surprise inclusion no harm was Luke Shaw.

The defender, valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, enjoyed a solid return to the first-team on his first start since the FA Cup quarter-final against Brighton, after which he was severely criticised by Mourinho.

Here, he made amends with a solid, energetic performance. In an attacking sense, he showed what he can offer United – that maybe Ashley Young cannot – with three crosses to go with a shot and a key pass apiece.

At the other end, he made four tackles and two clearances against a lively home attack, which should serve as something of a reminder to Mourinho of his defensive capabilities.

Ashley Young has emerged as something of a lieutenant for Mourinho this season, but the former Aston Villa man has been average at best since he muted Mo Salah at Old Trafford in March.

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If that does open the door to Shaw, he showed here that he is primed to take advantage on Saturday.

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Paul Pogba seems to be the most sought-after player in the world at the moment with every well-known club being linked to tempting the Frenchman into a summer move away from Juventus.

It is believed a bid of at least £72million would be needed to lure him away from Juve with his current deal with the Italian side lasting until 2019.

Two of the clubs in the race to sign the midfielder are Manchester rivals both on the hunt for a title win. After last year’s big money signings didn’t go quite as according to plan for Louis van Gaal he is already registering his interest ready for a big summer shake up at Old Trafford. As long as United qualify for the Champions League there will be another £100m available to spend on transfers and it looks like most of this could be put up for a bid for Pogba.

The French midfielder has, of course, already played for the Red Devils but he left on a free in 2012. He is seen as one of the “ones that got away” and having already played for United he could be tempted to re-join his own side having not parted in bad terms, he just wanted to play more football.

While he is a fantastic player it is slightly hard to picture where he would fit in to the Red Devils’ side. Van Gaal likes to play 4-3-3 and as he is described as one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world you struggle to see a role for him. United certainly need more strength in midfield and the 6ft 2in Frenchman could certainly provide that. Of course there is an argument that he could probably fit into any team in the world just fine but it probably wouldn’t be a smooth transition (Angel Di Maria anyone?)

Manchester City are keen to sign Pogba as the “heir” to Yaya Toure. It is thought they are ready to put as much as £100m up for the man of the moment and he could become the most expensive player ever sold. Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, believes that City are leading the race to sign him in another bid.

Yaya Toure has been far from his best this season and it looks like Pellegrini is keen to bring in some younger talent. Fans are well aware that Man City is an “ageing” team and Pogba would change the demographic of the side. His pace and skill would bring in some creativity that has been lacking this season in midfield and as City try and conquer the Champions League he would be a keen signing as someone who as excelled in the competition. As well as bringing in skill he will bring in a knowledge of how teams on the continent play and excel in the Champions League.

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There is still a long way to go before Pogba’s future will be decided and I am sure it will all come down to who can splash the most cash. Manchester needs to look out- Barcelona and PSG have entered the race now.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has endured a difficult campaign fraught with criticism at every turn, but with the club seemingly timing their good run of form at precisely the right time, should they achieve a top-four finish and secure Champions League football for a 17th consecutive season, will it rank as one of his greatest managerial achievements at the club?

First things first, Wenger clearly deserves great credit for keeping the club in the mix for a top four spot this season. After a summer of great upheaval off the pitch was saw long-time assistant Pat Rice retire and the club’s leading striker Robin van Persie secure a move to Manchester United, many tipped the club to miss out considering the relative strength of their rivals Tottenham, while Everton also looked to be pushing for a return to Europe’s elite, while Chelsea were trying to re-establish themselves after spending big in the summer after a disappointing sixth-placed finish last season.

However, with Andre Villas-Boas’ side struggling to juggle their league and Europa League commitments successfully in recent weeks, after dropping points against Fulham, Liverpool and Everton, similar to last season, they have started to close a seven-point gap on their rivals to sit just two points behind them with a game in hand and seven fixtures left to play. Last season the club clinched an improbable third-placed finish after a tremendous run of form down the home straight as they overhauled a 12-point gap between themselves and Harry Redknapp’s out-0f-sorts side.

It seems just as Wigan seem to avoid the drop every campaign while others around them lose their heads by putting together a decent run of form at the right time, Arsenal are the top-four equivalent at the other end of the table and they used their experience at just the right time while Tottenham and Everton have been up and down and Chelsea remain focused on winning a piece of silverware. At this stage of the season, it’s certainly better to be in a position to be chasing something rather than holding on, and at the moment you’d have to back Arsenal to clinch either third or fourth after winning their last three league games on the bounce since beating Bayern Munich away from home in the Champions League shortly after losing the north London derby 2-1 at White Hart Lane.

Not only has replacing van Persie proved to be something of a selection headache this season, there have been various other issues, albeit minor when placed in the larger context of 20 teams competing to finish as highly as possible, but when piled together make a substantial impact on the shape and feel of the side.

Theo Walcott’s contractual dispute which dominated the headline, captain Thomas Vermaelen suffering from a crisis of form and confidence and eventually being dropped from the side, Wojciech Szczeny struggling with injury and then his father’s outburst in the media, Bacary Sagna going off the boil, the departure of Alex Song, the constant state of worry surrounding Jack Wilshere’s fitness and the overwhelming need of the fans to turn someone into a scapegoat, reported issues with new assistant Steve Bould, not to mention their terrible record against top-four opposition this term and defensive fragility. Overcoming all of these problems has proved difficult, often tiresome, but they are still there and retain a chance of clinching a top four spot which says a lot about the man in charge.

There are still legitimate criticisms to be levelled at Wenger, namely that the lack of quality within the squad which is entirely of his own making, while he continues to emplace trust in several players that are patently not up to the job and pursue an increasingly dogmatic style of play, lacking any sort of plan B against top level opposition. He appears to regard a top-four finish as more important than silverware and has been responsible for the zealot-like pursuit of of Financial Fair Play which has seen the club grow less and less competitive in the transfer market. He’s a absurdly stubborn individual and he and Arsenal remain a ridiculously frustrating duo.

Clinching a top-four place would still be a massive achievement, though, even if it doesn’t let him completely off the hook for all the needless and wholly preventable mess he has made of certain situations. Looking at Arsenal’s fixture list, with games against QPR, Norwich, Newcastle, Wigan and Fulham, they seem capable of keeping their recent run going for a little while longer yet, even if they face difficult home games against Manchester United and Everton.

When you compare and contrast this with Tottenham’s, which includes games against Manchester City, Chelsea and a seriously in-form Southampton side that’s already claimed the scalps of Liverpool and the aforementioned duo in recent weeks and their run-in starts to look a lot more tricky, particularly keeping in mind their Europa League campaign, Gareth Bale’s fitness issues and their drastic loss of form. Their ability to shoot themselves in the foot just when it looks as if they may be turning a corner and building something to last knows no bounds.

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It’s far from a foregone conclusion yet, and Chelsea could yet come into the mix even more than their north London rivals, but given the context of losing their best player in the summer, having to blood in three new attackers in the form of Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski, while losing the last derby game and facing constant questions over his future after losing the support of large swathes of the club’s fans, Wenger could still pull off a huge coup. There are sure to be plenty of twists and turns yet, but you’d have to say with the what he’s currently got at his disposal in terms of quality and depth, few could do a better job at Arsenal than the Frenchman.

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