Certainly if Liverpool lose Suarez, they have a big goal getting shaped hole to fill and are likely to struggle in the 2013 / 2014 season. Liverpool are priced at odds of $18.00 to finish in the bottom half of the Premier League table next season. I think this is great value.

Manchester City are rumoured to be close to bringing Swedish Title magnet Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Etihad. Ibrahimovich has a terrific record of winning titles, having won 9 titles at 6 clubs over 10 years in a run that goes: Ajax (2004), Juventus (2005), Juventus (2006), Internazionale (2007), Internazionale (2008), Internazionale (2009), Barcelona (2010), AC Milan (2011), Paris St-Germain (2013). A cut priced $28m price tag has been slapped on his head following PSG’s signing of Edinson Cavani from Napoli, and it seems Laurent Blance can’t get rid of Ibra quick enough. City are also in the running to sign Sevilla’s Alvaro Negredo and / or Fiorentina’s Stevan Jovetic in deals thought to be totalling $100m.

City are keenly priced at $3.10 to win the 2014 EPL, and with the amount of money they have already spent, plus the possible creation of an Aguero/Ibrahimovic/Negredo/Jovetic front line, represents a huge price and great value for money.

On the other side of Manchester, it seems like Manchester United are switching attention to trying to sign Cesc Fabregas from Barcelona as long time target Thiago Alcantara is on the verge of a move to Bayern Munich. To be honest I can’t see Barca letting both Thiago and Fabregas leave, that would leave them with an aging midfield, unless they have some targets up their sleeves. With Real Madrid already very active in the transfer market and all the news about Barcelona seemingly about losing players (David Villa, Thiago, Fabregas etc), this is one rumour that is just paper talk.

United are more likely to look to Germany to recruit some central midfield creativity, with Dortmund’s playmaker Marco Reus the likely target.

Alcantara’s imminent arrival at Bayern ushers another talented midfielder towards the exit sign. Xherdan Shaqiri is thought to be a target for Liverpool, in their desperate attempt to break into the Top 4. Liverpool have also confirmed that they have offered Steven Gerrard (86) a new 2 year contract. “Can Gerrard play on into his late 30s? Absolutely, no question about that” quoted Brendan Rogers “There will always be a need at Anfield for a player capable of pinging a football diagonally across a football pitch into the advertising hoardings” he didn’t add.

Here is a quick summary of other gossip and rumours:

PSG want Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic in a deal that simply won’t happen.
QPR and Brazil main stopping man and horrendous spelling mistake Julio Cesar is going to Napoli on loan in a deal that very much will happen.
Newcastle want to sign Aston Villa’s Darren Bent in a $10m deal once Alan Pardew and Joe Kinnear decide whose Mont Blanc they are supposed to use.
Manchester City’s Pablo Zabeleta is on his way to Fiorentina in a deal which will leave the Premier League with one fewer players who sound like a nice coffee base Italian dessert.

Chelsea are rumoured to be in negotiations with Galatasaray to reunite Wesley Sneijder with his former boss Jose Mourinho. This would represent a great signing for Chelsea and give them a natural goal scoring replacement for the aging Frank Lampard. I think this rumour has real legs, no offence to Galatasaray, but Sneijder is still one of the best midfielders in the world and should be playing in the EPL.

Chelsea are attractively priced at odds of $3.20 to win the EPL, and given the Mourinho effect and the likelihood of them signing a raft of new players in the summer, this is a cracking bet.

Arsene Wenger has admitted it would be ‘impossible’ to turn down the chance to sign Wayne Rooney, however we are confident he won’t get the chance. Whilst Manchester United won’t consider Arsenal genuine title rivals anymore, they won’t be keen to sell to another EPL club. Plus Rooney won’t be overly interested in playing for a team that still have to qualify for the Champions League we don’t reckon. Chances of this one happening? None. However….

Arsenal are heavily linked with a ove for Swansea City’s mercurial attacking midfielder / striker Michu and this rumour makes much more sense all round. I think this one has legs.

Arsenal are currently listed as $1.90 to finish outside the EPL Top 4 next season. I think that is a rather decent bet.

And finally, Liverpool seem to be keen on Shakhtar Donetsk’s Armenia international striker Henrikh Mkhitaryan and are apparently not put off by the likey $50m valuation of him. Of who? Exactly. To be fair to Henrikh Mkhitaryan he has scored a record 25 goals in the Ukranian league this term. I hope this one comes to fruition, just to hear the various ways the pundits will try and pronounce his name.