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.

Luis Suarez is being linked with a move to Real Madrid, who appear to be doing their utmost to sign every top player thay can, now that rivals Barcelona have secured the services of Neymar. Suarez, who has a less than savoury reputation in England is now talking about “a change of environment” and is understood to be asking for almost $300,000 per week in wages! This one could be a very realistic proposition, however I struggle to see where the Madristas are going to play him.

Suarez’s Uruguay are in action on Thursday against France, where he might be lining up against arch nemesis Patrice Evra again. Uruguay are $2.25 whilst France are $3.00. A draw is an attractive $3.30 and is where our money is going.

The future of Wayne Rooney is also less than clear, gossip seems to link him to a big money move to PSG, however, the installation of David Moyes as the new Manchester United manager might chnage that. Certainly within United circles the club seems to be trying hard to keep Rooney, whereas the fans seem to want him to leave. We think Rooney will still be a United player come the start of next season.

Rooney is likely to be in action in the new Maracana, as Brazil take on England on Monday morning. Brazil are priced at a very short $1.57 with England available at odds of $5.50. England don’t look like they have much idea recently and the 1-1 draw against Ireland was an example of the insipid performamces they have put in recently. There is no value backing Brazil outright, but backing Brazil half time and Brazil full time is a decent $2.40 bet.

Back in Madrid, President Florentino Perez has slapped a €1billion price tag on the head of forward Cristiano Ronaldo, however we have heard posturing like this before from Perez, so Ronaldo to Manchester United or PSG is still an outside possibility a far as we are concerned.

Portugal take on Russia on Saturday, and are heavy favourites at $1.91, we quite like the Russian team and will be betting on them at $3.80.

Finally Australia travel to Japan for a soccer game on Tuesday, and it shows how far Japan’s star (or sun) has risen in world football (or how far the Aussies have fallen) than Japan are no better than $1.83 with Australia a big $4.00. Sad as I am, I cannot see the Aussies pulling of a victory in this one.