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Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry have returned to former clubs, but which old stalwarts would you like to make a comeback?

After the comebacks of Thierry Henry and Paul Scholes, we asked Premier League fans who they would like to see return.

ARSENAL

Tony Adams

What’s the charge constantly levelled at this Arsenal side? A lack of leadership. While the character seems somewhat improved after Wenger’s late August transfer flurry, surely a team led from the back by Tony Adams would have held on for three points against the likes of Wolves and Fulham over the Christmas period. Toby Moses

ASTON VILLA

Thomas Hitzlsperger

Aston Villa supporters would always welcome Thomas Hitzlsperger back even if “Der Hammer” was a little sniffy when he left for Stuttgart in 2005 saying he wanted to join a “bigger club”. Villa lack a goalscoring midfielder with a powerful long-range shot and the German didn’t earn that soubriquet for nothing. He is still only 30 and Villa were hopeful of signing him when he left West Ham last year. Whether his current club Wolfsburg are “bigger” than Villa is a moot point. Ian Malin

BLACKBURN

Alan Shearer

When you are looking up at the rest of the Premier League, goals are gold dust and no one sprinkled it over Blackburn Rovers like Alan Shearer. He scored 30 goals or more for three consecutive seasons from 1994, blasted Rovers to the Premier League title and was the fans’ must-buy shirt. Too old? At 41 he’s only three years older than Ryan Giggs. Nick Duxbury

BOLTON

Jay-Jay Okocha

While the temptation – based on league position and Ivan Klasnic’s uninspiring shows up front – is to call for the return of a Daniel Sturridge or Johan Elmander, the footballing heart wants what it wants – and the sentimental Bolton fan’s heart wants to see Jay-Jay Okocha don white once more. The sight of the Nigerian superstar stepping-over and dummying, with all the authority of his experience, before unleashing goalwards a trademark curling effort, still evokes a fond nostalgia at the Reebok. Skilful while professional; flashy, yet substantial; good-humoured, but focused, always willing to give 100% to a perpetually glamourless cause: Jay-Jay, you’re always welcome back here. Jack Leahy

CHELSEA

Gus Poyet

Chelsea spent last summer chasing a diminutive magician who could supply missing creativity and unlock opposition defences … and even aged 45 Gianfranco Zola would have been ideal. But although the Sardinian genius was voted Chelsea’s best ever player, my choice in this strange, inconsistent season (and despite his unfortunate dalliances with Tottenham and Leeds) would be Gustavo Poyet: goals, guile and an unquenchable will to win. Chris Taylor

EVERTON

Wayne Rooney

Given Everton’s current situation, you could virtually take your pick of players from the turn of the century. The names of Arteta, Pienaar, Lescott, Johnson, Radzinski, Yakubu, Ferguson would all improve the team. I wouldn’t go quite as far as Gascoigne or Ginola, but if there’s one player who has left the club who could still do a job and you’d take back, it has to be Wayne Rooney. He may have left under a cloud and not be too popular at Goodison Park, but he’s Manchester United and England’s talisman and is still only 26. Can it really be 10 years ago this summer he made his Everton debut? Martin Rose

FULHAM

Brian McBride

With Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson both reportedly unsettled, the big-hearted American Brian McBride could surely turn the clock back – a true leader of the line as recently as 2008 with his intelligent movement, all-round awareness and ability to nod on or hold up. He might even encourage Johnson to stay. He is not 40 until June and is well remembered at Craven Cottage in the renamed sports bar McBride’s. Steed Malbranque, 32 last week, would also be welcome, though his busy, scurrying runs, appreciated in the Chris Coleman years, might not fit Fulham’s current tempo of approach and he was nothing like as effective under Martin Jol at Tottenham or subsequently at Sunderland. No sooner did he go to St Etienne than he retired. At 32 he could shine again with Fulham’s love. Jeremy Alexander

LIVERPOOL

Jan Molby

Simply the finest passer I’ve ever seen in a Liverpool shirt – Xabi Alonso included. The Great Dane could land the ball on a fivepenny piece from 40 yards. His hulking frame gave him the ammunition to hit a fierce dead ball too – it also gave him numerous injury problems. He was the perfect holding player before English football adopted the 4-5-1 formation. A thinking man’s footballer before his time. With modern-day fitness coaches Molby could more than fill the void left by Alonso in Liverpool’s midfield. Gregg Roughley

MANCHESTER CITY

Colin Bell

Colin Bell would finally return free from injury at the age of 65. The crowd would roar themselve hoarse as they did when he returned on Boxing Day 1977 against Newcastle. But instead of being a limping, shuffling shadow of his former self, this time he would play 200 more games, scoring another 100 goals in the process. His nickname, Nijinsky, said it all – named after the racehorse, but it could as easily have been the ballet dancer. King Colin would prove himself the most complete English midfielder of all time. On my bench of returnees would be Shaun Goater for his soul, Kenny Clements for his heart, Nicolas Anelka for his selflessness (honest) and Denis Law for his nerve. Simon Hattenstone

MANCHESTER UNITED

Denis Law

Every team needs goals and to see United’s strikers outside of Wayne Rooney struggling to hit the net brings back memories of a player who made scoring seem so effortless. If you told people now that a Scottish striker could be European footballer of the year they would laugh in your face, but Denis Law was only the second Briton after Stanley Matthews to win the award. The wiry Law may have been as thin as a matchstick but his refusal to be intimidated and his immense bravery, agility and sharpness around the box saw him average better than a goal every two matches for United. Each strike was saluted by a huge grin and raised fist and it was this infectious relish for the game that endeared him to the fans. His last eight years at United were blighted by a debilitating knee injury that was “treated” by putting hot poultices on it. The injury robbed him of a place in the 1968 European Cup-winning team and what should have been the crowning glory for the man nicknamed the King of Old Trafford. Mark Redding

NEWCASTLE

Alan Shearer

The Premier League’s record goalscorer is still looking quite trim on the Match of the Day sofa and will have benefited from the significant amount of time he has been spending enjoying the energising rays of Barbados. Sure, the pace went a long time ago. But I reckon the, er, 41-year-old would still have some of the old power and magic. And he’s not someone who is ever going to forget where the goal is. There would be some tasty strikes in a Demba Ba/Alan Shearer partnership. Demba could do the mobile, acrobatic goals like his one against Man Utd. Shearer could do the penalties and a few belters from outside the box. I’m sure the faithful at the Sports Direct Arena would like to see that one-armed goal salute again. Mark Oliver

NORWICH

Darren Huckerby

In the out-of-retirement stakes, Norwich fans didn’t take long to decide who they were backing: Darren Huckerby. The former Coventry, Leeds and Man City winger became a club legend in his five seasons in Norfolk. He’s also reinvented himself as something of a voice on Twitter and has been RTing requests for him to come out of retirement, only with the added suffix: “Legs gone”. Derided by some as a head-down merchant during his big club days, Hucks was always highly effective for Norwich, getting us promotion after signing in 2004 and becoming one of the few players to emerge with any honour from our sole season in the top flight. Now a regular in the Carrow Road stands, he’s truly one of us. Paul MacInnes

QPR

Clarke Carlisle

With Rangers languishing in 17th in the Premier League, one might think there would be plenty of former greats who could come back and Do a Thierry to perk things up. But that ignores Loftus Road history: the last decade has seen QPR relegated to the third tier, promoted back, and largely struggling until last season’s promotion. The players who became genuine heroes in that period are now retired (Paul Furlong) or seeing out their careers way down the league (Gareth Ainsworth). And neither of them, even young and at their peak, would be likely to be able to drag the Rs out of the mire. On the other hand, there are scores of players we’d never want to see at Loftus Road again. But if forced to pick one current player to return to Loftus Road, I think I’d have to plump – in the absence of anything better – for Clark Carlisle. But on one condition: that I am also granted a time machine to get the Clark Carlisle who played 27 games for Rangers before tearing his posterior cruciate ligament against Fulham in January 2001. Before then he’d looked like a potential England centre-back; afterwards he was never quite the same. As a footnote, that game also saw Richard Langley – at that point, quite the most promising player in a hooped shirt – tear his cruciate, too. Like Carlisle, he was never the same again either. Michael Hann

STOKE

Mark Stein

This is a tough one given the current Stoke squad is probably the best we have had for the last 40 years, but if I had to choose one player it would have to be Mark Stein. He is the type of small, nippy striker we’re lacking right now, someone with a proven track record, a good work ethic, and who was simply adored by the Stoke fans during his two-odd years at the club. He signed from Oxford in 1991 when we were in the old Third Division and went on to score over 50 goals in fewer than 90 appearances – including a corker against Manchester United in the League Cup – and helped us get promoted. He also did well at Chelsea after joining them in 1993 but seemed to miss a sitter every time he played against us, which only made our fans love him more. Richard Murphy

SUNDERLAND

Kevin Phillips

Goalscoring hasn’t been a problem since Martin O’Neill took over at the Stadium of Light, but in the barren latter stages of Steve Bruce’s stagnant regime, Sunderland were crying out for a goal-poacher with the positional sense of Super Kev in his prime … or even his current 38-year-old sub-prime. The former forklift truck driver remains the only Englishman to win the European Golden Boot and has scored seven goals in 23 appearances for Blackpool this season, proving he still remembers where the goal is, even in his most senior moments. Barry Glendenning

SWANSEA

James Thomas

Swansea’s current squad is vastly superior to that at any point since the early 1980s, but if I had to pick one former player to come back it would be James Thomas. He was a versatile, hard-working forward who joined us from Blackburn in 2002 looking to relaunch his career. He was a local boy who clearly loved playing and scoring for his hometown club and will forever be remembered for his final day of the season hat-trick at the Vetch Field against Hull, which saved the club from the Conference and possible extinction. Tragically, injuries forced him to retire soon after but no individual has played a bigger part in Swansea’s recent ascendancy than him. If it were possible, I’d have him back tomorrow. Ben Szwediuk

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

David Ginola

The silken-haired footballer-cum-model is possibly the best £2.5m Tottenham have ever spent – and the ebullient Frenchman was definitely “worth it”. In just three seasons he became a living legend at White Hart Lane. Who can forget his amazing dribble and goal in the FA Cup against Barnsley in 1999 or the swerving long-range strike against Manchester United en route to the League Cup trophy the same year? Bring him on as a late sub for a tiring Rafael van der Vaart and let him loose – what a thought. Ian Tasker

WOLVES

Steve Bull

It’s a straightforward choice between two iconic figures, from different eras, forever associated with Molineux. The first was a rangy striker, trademark sideburns and moustache and a propensity for the unexpected. But, would Derek Dougan ensure Premier League survival? Sadly not. Anyway, we’ve got Steven Fletcher who with his angular, elongated frame bears something of a resemblance to the Doog. No, it has to be Steve Bull. Fast, strong, brave, direct, 306 goals in 561 games; Jarvis’s crosses and Fletcher’s knockdowns would have him starring on Match of the Day week after week. And, it would correct a historical aberration – the great man never started a game in the top division. Paul Johnson

WEST BROM

Richard Sneekes

I’d bring back the long-haired Dutchman Richard Sneekes, who had some golden years at The Hawthorns from 1996-2001. The entertaining midfielder was certainly not shot-shy but also not always accurate as his scoring record of 34 goals in 251 appearances will attest. The former Ajax player quickly became a fans’ favourite after scoring this bullet for the Baggies against Leicester in 1996. A potential revenue stream could be reopened by dusting off the club shop’s unsold blond wigs which were popular among Albion fans in the late 90s, which should please Jeremy Peace. Sneekes is currently first-team coach at Hereford so he only lives an hour’s drive down the road and he’s only 43. Ranjit Dhaliwal

WIGAN

Any defender

Well, where do you start? Any of the classy centre-halves we’ve let go over the years from Colin Methven to Peter Atherton would be more reliable facing Premier League strikers than the current lot, though Methven ran a card shop on Blackpool prom last I heard, so might not be match fit. But seriously, who’d have thought that we could buy centre-halves – Gohouri, Alcaraz, López and Captain Calamity Gary Caldwell – that would be error-prone enough to make us pine for the return of Titus Bramble? Right now, Roberto needs to reinstate the reliable Emmerson Boyce to steady the ship, and then recall the class and professionalism of his old lower-league muckers Arjan de Zeeuw, Jason de Vos or the superb Matt Jackson. Martin Horsfield

ArsenalAston VillaBlackburn RoversBolton WanderersChelseaEvertonFulhamLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedNorwich CityQPRStoke CitySunderlandSwansea CityTottenham HotspurWigan AthleticWolverhampton WanderersWayne RooneyAlan ShearerWest BromToby MosesIan MalinBarry GlendenningMichael HannChris TaylorMark ReddingPaul JohnsonGregg RoughleySimon HattenstoneMartin RoseJeremy AlexanderIan TaskerRanjit Dhaliwalguardian.co.uk

• Captain has undergone treatment to combat infection
• Midfielder will miss Swansea game and two England friendlies

Liverpool hope rest for Steven Gerrard during the upcoming international break will cure an infection in their captain’s right ankle.

Gerrard, who had only recently returned to fitness after a six-month absence caused by a groin problem, missed the victory at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and was subsequently pictured with his leg in a cast. The midfielder has now been ruled out of England’s friendly matches against Spain and Sweden.

A Liverpool statement said: “Steven Gerrard has now undergone treatment to clear out all infection from his right ankle, which has been placed in a protective plaster cast.

“The player will not be available for this weekend’s game against Swansea City or for the upcoming England friendlies against Spain and Sweden. Steven will now continue his rehabilitation programme under the guidance of the club’s medical staff.”

Liverpool have not specified when they hope the 31-year-old can play again. The club’s clear wish is that no infection returns to the area which was initially caused by an apparently innocuous cut during training.

Dr Kal Parmar, a sports medicine specialist with the Pure Sports Clinic, believes Gerrard’s recovery should be relatively straightforward.

“I have read about the case and it is unusual for something like this simply to happen from a cut,” Dr Parmar said. “I think Steven has been unlucky for the injury to come about in this way.

“It sounds as though the cut has become infected and that has got into the ankle joint. From there, the joint would be washed out in a minor surgical procedure. There should be no complications from there, it is easily treated.

“The cast is put in place to prevent any infection from spreading. He should be fine; you have to keep on top of the cut, keep it clean and he will probably still be on some kind of antibiotics. But he should be back within the next week or two, I would have thought.”

Steven GerrardLiverpoolEwan Murrayguardian.co.uk

The Uruguayan ran Manchester United ragged at Anfield last season and his manager is hoping for a repeat from his No7

The mood, the manager, the net spend, the debt and the lack of revulsion at American owners; the changes at Liverpool since the high court verdict that saved them from Tom Hicks and George Gillett exactly 12 months ago are well-established now. It is the impact of Luis Suárez, however, that has afforded Anfield a transformation where it matters most.

Fenway Sports Group has been accused of overspending on some assets in the quest to reclaim Champions League status but, nine months after a £22.8m deal with Ajax, the Uruguay international represents a sound investment. Suárez has injected goals and assists into Liverpool’s play but also the win-at-all-costs mentality that, despite the damage to his own reputation at times, was lacking when John W Henry first observed his acquisition at Goodison Park last year and a disillusioned Fernando Torres pursued aimless long balls down the channels.

This week the 24-year-old also proved the exception to Kenny Dalglish’s general media rule of tempering expectancy. “I don’t know how Manchester United think but I’m sure they will know what he did to them last year,” the Liverpool manager said. “They know what he is capable of and that is their problem.”

It was the corresponding fixture last season, Liverpool’s third successive victory at home over a United side about to overtake them on 19 league titles and Steven Gerrard’s last start before injury, when Suárez announced that his arrival into English football was not only seamless but liable to revise the timescale placed on the club’s recovery. Two moments illustrated his gifts to a disbelieving Anfield audience. The latter came in the 86th minute with Liverpool cruising 3-0 and Suárez, having spun and sprinted beyond two United defenders only to slice his shot into the Kop, kicked out at the advertising hoardings in disgust. The first, when he beat Rafael da Silva, Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick and Wes Brown to send Dirk Kuyt on his way to a hat-trick, defies explanation even from a striker of Dalglish’s pedigree.

“I don’t know how he did it,” he admitted. “It’s not the first time he’s done that, maybe it was in terms of how many he went past, but each of the individual things he used to get past people he had done before. He just collated them in the one run. But he has got other things to his bow apart from that. Dirk scored a hat-trick but if you added up the distance of all his goals I don’t think you’d get outside the six-yard box – it was two yards, two yards and two yards. But they were a vital two yards.

“For me, Luis has made a fantastic contribution. He does something different every time you see him. I think the problem people have with Luis is that they don’t know what is coming next, but he does and that’s helpful. We just hope he continues to surprise us. But pleasantly.”

Along with every other Premier League manager this week, Dalglish’s opinion was sought on Wayne Rooney’s costly indiscretion in Montenegro. His reply lends itself as easily to Suárez as it does the divisive England international. “It is not just Wayne Rooney but any footballer; the characteristics make the person and the person is what makes the footballer. If you don’t like the personality, you might not get the footballer,” he said.

In his autobiography, Pepe Reina tells of how he “loved” the Uruguay international from the moment he set foot on to the training pitches at Melwood. “I could tell straight away that he had a bit of the devil in him and that he was going to be really exciting to watch,” the Liverpool goalkeeper writes. “He has so much talent and so much potential that there is no reason why he cannot become a truly great player, someone who gets supporters on the edge of their seats and has people talking about him all the time because he is so good.”

It remains a challenge for Suárez to convince an audience beyond Liverpool and Uruguay to appreciate his talent without reservation. To Ghanaians, Otman Bakkal – the PSV Eindhoven player he bit while at Ajax – and others tired of the theatrics, that may be an impossibility but the man of the tournament during his nation’s Copa América triumph this summer has the ability to present a firm argument. Dalglish insists Suárez has the character too.

The Liverpool manager added: “Everyone can see what he has done on the pitch but he is a fantastic personality in and around the place. He was happy and smiling from the moment he signed and that helps. He settled in very quickly, moved into a house very quickly and scored on his debut against Stoke when he came on as a substitute, so everything went well for him. He seems happy with his life.”

LiverpoolAndy Hunterguardian.co.uk