But, although speculation continues to link the 26 year-old with a return to his homeland as new manager Roy Hodgson attempts to raise funds to build his own team, the new Liverpool manager has told the Italian international that he is very much in his plans for the upcoming campaign. Aquilani’s agent has quashed rumours suggesting his client could be on his way back to Roma stating his client is focused on having a good season with Liverpool.

However, Aquilani remains determined to make his mark in the Premier League and hopes a fresh start under new boss Hodgson will allow him to flourish this season. As a result, he has no intention of moving on and his representative has been quick to play down reports of an imminent return to Italy. The Liverpool fans are known for their patience with the team. They will want to see a significant improvement from the midfielder in this campaign. Indeed, they will need most of their players to step up as some will no doubt make Aston Villa betting tips to finish above Liverpool this season.

During his time at Roma, Aquilani was thought of as one of the country’s best midfielders. He made his debut for Roma under Fabio Capello as an 18-year-old. He’s gone on to represent Italy 11 times but wasn’t involved in his country’s disastrous World Cup campaign this summer.

After such a poor season last year by Liverpool, not much was expected from the Merseysiders this season. That all changed with the signing of Joe Cole a few weeks ago. Cole’s arrival prompted Steven Gerrard and more recently Fernando Torres to commit their futures to the club. Liverpool fans can now justifiable expect their team to challenge for honours this season. It’s unlikely pundits will make Liverpool betting tips for the league, but they have three cup competitions to contest.

Possibly the most important task Hodgson has this campaign is getting back in the Champions League. The 2005 winners will have to spend this season competing in the Europa League but will go into that competition as one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

The England midfielder picked up the knock during United’s 7-1 friendly victory over an Airtricity League of Ireland side on Wednesday. It will annoy Carrick that he has sustained the injury such a low key game, that’s for sure.

Sir Alex Ferguson said that the situation was “nothing serious” though and he fully expects Carrick to be heavily involved in the Premier League season before long. Perhaps the home game with West Ham United at the end of August is a realistic target for him.

It isn’t just Manchester United that are missing out on Carrick’s services as England will not be able to select him for their friendly against Hungary on Wednesday.

However, with Fabio Capello likely to go in a new direction, Carrick – who didn’t make an impact at the World Cup – may not have been picked anyway.

In terms of other injury news at Old Trafford, Ferguson revealed that Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen would get 45 minutes each against Chelsea in the Charity Shield on Sunday.

As it stands, the Chelsea v Manchester United betting for the Charity Shield is pretty tight, so it could be a competitive game and should give fans a chance to see where the sides are at.

However, there will be a few other players missing and Ferguson said: “Gabriel Obertan still has the ankle injury he picked up in the United States. It will be a few weeks before Rio Ferdinand is back among us and Owen Hargreaves is still in the United States.”

“Anderson is making good progress from his knee injury and he could be back training in two or three weeks.”

The Betfair Football betting makes United second favourites to win the league this season, but their preparations have not been smooth.

Overall, it has been a strange pre-season for Manchester United. With little transfer activity and players picking up knocks here and there, it has been far from ideal. However, under the management of Ferguson, you would back them to be ready for Newcastle on the 16th August.

Fergie has decided that both Danny Welbeck, 19, and Tom Cleverley, 20, will be available for loan to other Premier League clubs this season. The talented duo are currently away in America with the first-team squad and it was thought they could feature in Ferguson’s plans this season, but the United chief wants them to pick up more experience.

Welbeck went on loan to Preston last season but picked up an injury which meant he needed surgery and a full season in the Premier League could be what is needed to help the striker fulfil his huge potential.

Blackpool, Wigan, Bolton and Blackburn are all expected to be interested in Welbeck, who laid on United’s goal for Gabriel Obertan in the recent 1-0 win over Philadelphia Union. All four clubs are chasing forward options and all will allow Welbeck to feature regularly in the top flight.

The same quartet of clubs is also likely to be in the hunt for Bradford-born Cleverely, who spent a successful loan spell at Watford last season. The all-action midfielder was named the Hornets’ Player of the Year and Fergie is convinced the youngster will benefit hugely from a full season in the top flight. Keep track of where he ends up with Bets Player.

The exciting duo are sure to be in demand over the next month or so, but they still have a huge future at Old Trafford.

But new boss Roy Hodgson will need more than Cole to lift the ailing club’s fortunes in the season ahead. The 28-year-old does look a perfect fit for the side though, especially after Yossi Benayoun left Merseyside. He is the perfect replacement for the Israeli and will prove to be a huge hit with the fans on the Kop.

Cole left Chelsea at the end of last season after failing to agree a new contract with the club and has now signed a lucrative four-year deal at Anfield.

His arrival has been met by delirium on Merseyside and if Hodgson can now persuade Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres to stay put he will surely be given the freedom on the city. But the depth of his squad still looks perilously thin. In truth Liverpool’s starting XI is as good as any in the Premier League and they showed that two seasons ago when they went so close to the title. Their efforts came off the rails last term but, if you look at the first team Hodgson can put out, they should be challenging for honours.

With Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Steven Gerrrad, Javier Mascherano, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and now Cole, Liverpool have a strong starting XI, but when injuries and suspensions bite they look vulnerable. Hodgson is desperately short of cover and he has some serious work to do in the next month or so.

Hodgson is well aware of the need to bolster his Anfield squad and the former Fulham boss is keen on adding British players with the new home-grown player rule coming into force this season.

Eight home-grown players must be named in a squad of 25 and Hodgson is making sure he won’t be left short by the new rule.

Richards was regarded as one of England’s bright young things a few years ago, but he lost his way at Eastlands last term making 23 top-flight appearances and his action could well be limited even more this season with the arrival of Jerome Boateng from Hamburg. He is expected to cement a place at the heart of City’s defence meaning Richards could be tempted to move elsewhere.

Hodgson doesn’t have a huge transfer budget and Richards won’t be allowed to leave on the cheap, but he is keen to bolster the centre of his defence and sees Richards as the ideal recruit. The 22-year-old is believed to favour a central role and Hodgson is confident of persuading Richards his future lies at Anfield.

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is also believed to be pondering a move for the player who broke into the City team when he was just 17 years old. Redknapp and Hodgson are both confident they can transform Richards into a top-class defender.

Aguero, 22, is widely regarded as one of the hottest properties in Europe and the son-in-law of Maradona is believed to be ready to take on the challenge in the Premier League.

He said: “Of course Chelsea is of interest to me as they are one of the most powerful teams in European football.

“They show their intent summer after summer in the transfer market and more often than not that intent will see them end the season with at least one trophy.”

The Argentinean forward was a bit-part player for Maradona’s men at the World Cup finals and only managed just over 100 minutes of action as Argentina were knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Germany.

The former Independiete star has shown more consistent form in La Liga though and has scored 20 goals-plus in each of his last three seasons at the Vicenete Calderon.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has been quiet in the transfer market so far and although the Blues are not expected to spend huge money this summer, they are likely to strengthen their options.

The champions looked short of attacking options at the start of last season with Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Daniel Sturridge the only senior strikers on the books, but such was Drogba’s form – he scored 29 goals – they went on to take the title.

However, this season might be the time to add to their attacking options and Aguero’s clever movement and pace makes him the perfect partner for Drogba. He would cost in excess of £20million but he could well be the man Chelsea need to go on and claim back-to-back titles.

The game, which will be aired live on Sky Sports, will give Rooney the chance to blow the cobwebs off and show the world he has forgotten his disastrous World Cup campaign.

Things just didn’t happen for Rooney and England in South Africa. Blame it on the ankle injury he picked towards the end of the season, fatigue, or just the weight of expectation, but Rooney wasn’t at the races at the finals.

The former Everton striker has yet to score at a World Cup finals and the closest he came was hitting the post in the 1-0 win over Slovenia – England’s only win in the 2010 competition.

Commenting on Rooney’s below par performance, Sir Alex Ferguson said: “I think there was such expectation on him. There was talk he was going to be the player of the tournament.

“Don’t forget, that was the prelude to the whole thing – he was going to be the star, he was going to outshine them all – (Lionel) Messi, (Cristiano) Ronaldo. So that level of expectation comes into it.”

Ferguson undoubtedly blames Rooney’s poor form on having the weight of a nation on his shoulders, but a comforting word or two from the United boss should do the trick.

Suggestions that Rooney’s confidence has been knocked will prove unfounded, Ferguson will make sure the striker is in the right frame of mind when the season kicks off next month and another season filled with goals is likely.

Should Fabio Capello shoulder the blame, or do England’s underachieving stars have to take it on the chin?

It’s a difficult question, but surely both parties should take a share of the responsibility?

Considering England are ranked eight by FIFA, they should have been nailed-on quarter-finalists at the tournament. But the Three Lions fell well short of that losing 4-1 in the round of 16 to a youthful German side. A last-eight defeat to Argentina would have been more readily accepted, but a thumping reverse to Germany – in a game England failed to shine in – simply wasn’t good enough.

Capello has to take the majority of the blame. It was the Italian who stuck rigidly to a 4-4-2 and failed to employ a plan B when things failed to click into gear in the group stages.

He had plenty of opportunity to switch tactics after miserable group showings, especially the 0-0 draw with Algeria. Admittedly, if it wasn’t for Rob Green’s mistake England would have edged past the USA, but things needed shaking up despite the 1-0 success over Slovenia in the final group clash.

The manager knew how Germany would line up with Joachim Loew’s emphasis on midfield possession and sharp movement, but still he went with two central midfielders and we were torn to pieces.

Still for all Capello’s lack of guile, the players he fielded should have applied themselves. They seem incapable of gelling into a team and remain a bunch of talented individuals, unable to work together at the highest level.

Oscar Tabarez’s men were the last team to qualify for the finals, but booked their place in the last eight after a piece of magic from Luis Suarez.

Suarez clipped Uruguay ahead early on and from there on in the workmanlike South Americans seemed happy to sit back and settle for a 1-0 win.

It didn’t make for a great spectacle, but South Korea huffed and puffed and finally got the breakthrough capitalising on an uncharacteristic piece of poor defending.

The Asian outfit had their tails up, but Suarez, who now has three goals in the race for the Golden Boot, conjured up a piece of magic of the sort that has been lacking at the World Cup so far.

The Ajax marksman curled a beauty of strike into the corner of the net after picking up the ball on the edge of the area to light up a pretty dour contest.

Whether Tabarez’s men can go any further, they face a quarter-final with Ghana, depends on their mentality.

As the tournament progresses it will prove more difficult to shut up shop and they may have to be more adventurous. They are 12/1 shots to go all the way and add to their two World Cup triumphs. If Suarez and Diego Forlan can stay in form they have a real chance of pulling off something special.

The Kaiser, who slammed England earlier in the tournament, has taken another swipe at the Three Lions after their crucial 1-0 win over Slovenia on Wednesday.

The victory earned England second place in Group C, after USA’s late winner saw them through as group winners, and Capello’s men will now meet old rivals Germany in the round of 16.

It’s a clash both sides would have preferred to avoid until the latter stages of the World Cup, but Capello won’t need to rouse his troops after Beckenbauer’s latest outburst.

“Stupidly, the English have slipped up a little by finishing second in their group,” Beckenbauer said.

Adding: “The English look a little tired.”

It’s the sort of trash talk that will have England licking their lips and leave Germany coach Joachim Loew with his head in his hands.

Germany started their tournament with a thumping 4-0 win over 10-man Australia, butwere then beaten by Serbia after having a man sent off before narrowly edging out Ghana 1-0.

They have certainly lost momentum after their opening game when they showed a fluid passing style and a repeat of that performance against England will give Capello’s men problems.

But they haven’t been as impressive since, while England look to be building in confidence.

After a nervous start to the tournament England eventually found their feet against Slovenia and should have recorded a bigger victory than the 1-0 result.

It promises to be a tight encounter in Bloemfontein on Sunday afternoon with the winners likely to face Argentina in the last eight.