Former club Newcastle Utd were also interested in their former player but they have not taken up any serious interest. 24year old Carroll has been in good form recently after coming back from an injury. If their approach for Carroll fails, it is thought West Ham will move for the top scorer in the Dutch League, Wilfried Bony. Bony scored 31 goals this season and has a host of clubs after the Ivory Coast international.

Carroll was orignally signed by Dalglsih for £35 million but never lived up to the price tag and found his chances at Liverpool limited. Carroll had scored 31 times in 81 appearances for Newcastle utd. Sam Allardye said: “If we can start with Andy Carroll, that would be a great achievement for us as he can only get better and better,” he said after West Ham’s weekend win over Reading. Then we build around that in terms of how we want to improve next year, with better quality.

“Andy is a player who is wanting to enjoy his football. He lives for his football and wants to play every game. He wants to use his strengths and score as many as he can – but he also works very hard for the team.”

Bale had been more or less guaranteed to leave Tottenham for one of Europe’s coveted teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester United but he has decided to stay put for now. The player scored his 31st goal of the season in the 1-0 win over Sunderland at the weekend; however it was not enough to secure fourth place.

Though Bale will be at the club next season there are rumours that if a bid in excess of £50 million is reached then he will be allowed to leave. Chairman Daniel Levy insisted: “Looking ahead to the summer, we shall continue to seek to strengthen and improve the team and to retain key players.”

Tottenham manager Villas-Boas said: “This is an ongoing question but it’s absolutely fine. If we want to make it better next season we have to hold on to our best assets and this is what I have been told from the top.
“The reference from the points tally is there so for us to make it better we need to keep hold of the best assets. It is very difficult to lure a player of this dimension away.”

Sporting director Beppe Marotta said: “I have to say that Higuain is a bit younger and has a higher market value. Tevez on the other hand has a year left on his contract so maybe between the two, the Tevez deal is easier.

“We are not the first to notice his quality and experience. He is a player with a big desire to rebuild his career. Nevertheless, he is owned by City and we have made no approach to them. It is obvious that even in the event of an agreement with the player, the club still has an important say.”

Carlos Tevez signed for Manchester City back in 2009 and has had a turbulent time during his spell.  Tevez  told French TV station Telefoot: “There was interest from PSG for me, and we talked with Leonardo, but we could not reach an agreement.

‘But it remains an interesting option as the French championship is moving very fast. If Leonardo called me, it’s not a problem for me to come, really no problem to come to Paris and France.’

Tevez also spoke about the possblity of moving to Monaco, saying: ‘For me, Monaco is one of the largest French clubs, and any player would go there. “I have a one-year contract left at City and I am happy, and I love playing in the Premier League – but a project like Monaco I really like. I know (Claudio) Ranieri and he has proven he is a great coach so for me this would be great.’

David Villa has been touted around Europe for some time and this season has seen his chances limited at Barcelona. The player was heavily linked with a move to Arsenal last summer as well as the January transfer window. However, it looks like he will be playing for Arsenal’s north London rivals and a deal is said to be under way.

One thing is for sure, he will score goals for any side in the world, the price just needs to right.

“I’m absolutely delighted. Everybody knows I always maintained the dream to stay,” the 34-year-old said. “I want to thank Mr Abramovich for making the dream a reality. I love this club, the staff, the players and especially the supporters.”

Lampard had been linked with a move to the United States, but said: “The thought of helping the club to more success in the forthcoming years is all I ever wanted. I couldn’t be happier.  We’ve been talking for ages, and even though it went on for quite a period it was always amicable.”

Benitez said: “Frank is a great professional. He has worked hard in every training session and now, at the end, I think we could see he has improved.

“Some people were surprised when I said that but he has scored a lot of goals in this period. Maybe it was because we were managing him quite well.”

Ron Gourlay, Chelsea’s chief executive, added: “Frank has been an important player for Chelsea Football Club for a long time and has played a significant part in the club’s success. We have been talking to him since the end of last year and our discussions have been entirely positive throughout.”

Football icon David Beckham is to announce his retirement from football. The players who is now 38 years old is set to bring his career to an end with an announcement imminent. Beckham made his debut for Manchester United 20 years ago and is one of the most famous faces in the world let alone just football.

Beckham became the first British footballer in history to become a league winner in 4 different countries. The news comes as a shock, as there was a deal on offer of a one year extension from PSG but it is thought that the former England captain has called time on his footballing career.

“If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy,” he said.

“I’m fortunate to have realised those dreams. To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country. I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following in a long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that cared passionately about their country,” said Beckham
“Nothing will ever completely replace playing the game I love,” Beckham added. “However, I feel like I’m starting a new adventure and I’m genuinely excited about what lies ahead.

“I’m fortunate to have been given many opportunities throughout my career and now I feel it’s my time to give back.

“I wouldn’t have achieved what I have done today without my family. I’m grateful for my parents’ sacrifice, which made me realise my dreams.

“I owe everything to Victoria and the kids, who have given me the inspiration and support to play at the highest level for such a long period.”

Beckham has played for some of the worlds biggest clubs, Real Madrid, Manchester United, AC Milan, LA Galaxy and PSG. With his retirement Beckham will probably be even more busy than usual. He will continue his work as an ambassador for a variety of charities and organisations with Sky Sports, Unicef and Adidas just being some of them.

There does not seem to be an abundance of clubs willing to take Rooney, his options seem to be limited. Here at SMT we think he will back track and realise that he isn’t as in demand as he thinks, and will have to see out his days at Manchester United.

There will also not be many clubs willing to take on Rooney’s £250,000 per week wages, which is a massive sum for a player who isn’t even the best at Manchester United let alone the Premier League. You have to ask yourself the question, why would you buy Rooney, a player who would cost about £35-40 million on top of which he has a salary of £1 million a month. On the other hand you can buy Lewandowski for far cheaper, a salary of less that half of Rooney’s and the player being 3 years younger!

Manchester City are believed to be in the hunt for the player and will lodge a bid of £17 million. This despite their currently being no manager after the sacking of Roberto Mancini yesterday.  Robben has many admirers and reports are also linking the Dutch international with Galatasaray and Juventus.

One thing is for sure, whoever  manages to purchase the Dutchman get a player who has a wealth of experience but is injury prone.

This is the second time that Rooney has asked to leave the club and to be honest they should sell him and get rid quickly. Rooney is never going to be a better player than he currently is and his value is never going to be as high. Manchester United would be getting rid of a player who is still good but not exactly in the realms of Messi and Ronaldo.

The last time Rooney decided to leave there was uproar amongst the fans but this time i do not think many people will be too upset to him go. Rooney made the request a couple of years ago purely out of greed. He wanted Manchester United to offer him more money to stay and he very, very quickly overturned his decision.

The club though have confirmed that Wayne Rooney is not for sale. The first big test for Moyes will be to see if he can retain Rooney… perhaps he may not want to if other replacements are there for him to buy.

It does not matter who takes over at Manchester United as it will be a poison chalice. No one can ever really follow one of the greatest managers of all time. It will be interesting to see how the players react to new management and whether if there is a rough patch whether they can steer through it.

What is known for definite is that next season the title race is sure to be wide open.