Manchester City and Chelsea are set to challenge Manchester United for the services of Gareth Bale this summer. The pressure on Bale at Madrid has intensified in recent weeks and a move back to the Premier League is on the cards. It has been assumed that if Bale does leave Madrid then a move to United is a 'shoo-in'. But both Chelsea and City are in need of attacking stimulus, especially in the context of Champions League football. Gareth Bale is attracting criticism in the Spanish capital and Chelsea and Manchester City are interested . The reality is that it will be how each club manage to finance a £100million deal plus near £300,000-a-week wages and stay within FFP rules. And in the case of Manchester United they have priorities in other areas of the pitch. Chelsea, on the basis of transfer sales and turnover, will have the ability to push the boat out to get Bale. The Blues are also looking to sign Real Madrid centre-half Raphael Varane. Chelsea could demand as much as £20million this summer to let Petr Cech leave the club. In what may well be a merry-go-round of elite goalkeepers this summer, Cech is a target for Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Manchester United, Real Madrid and PSG. Although Cech is now Chelsea’s No 2, he is still just 32. Former Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann has urged the Gunners to sign Cech, arguing that he could well be entering the best period of his career. Petr Cech is wanted by a raft of top clubs and Arsenal have been urged to sign him by Jens Lehmann . Liverpool are prepared to play poker with Raheem Sterling and his advisors over a new contract. And the Merseyside club remain convinced they will win. The Reds don’t believe there is genuine, firm interest from clubs such as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester United as has been reported, as talks over a new £100,000 a week deal have repeatedly stalled. Certainly Liverpool believe that if they slap a £50million-plus price tag on the England forward then none of those clubs would make a move this summer. Raheem Sterling is reportedly wanted by Europe's elite, but Liverpool aren't buying that . Talks on a bumper £1000,000-a-week deal have stalled between Sterling and Liverpool . Indeed the club believe Sterling constantly being linked with a range of 'platinum' clubs is part of a strategy from the player’s camp to force their hand and offer wages of up to £140,000 a week - the sort of level Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez were on. But the view of the Liverpool hierarchy is that in stages of progression Sterling does not yet command such a figure in the context of their wage structure nor in how they deal with FFP regulations. The club want Sterling to understand that the current offer is generous, especially given that despite his rapid emergence he has yet to prove himself as a consistent force, and that a new £100,000-a-week five-year deal would have re-negotiation stages built in. The obvious concern of the club is that if they bow to the demands of Sterling’s advisors now, they could have a talented 20-year-old player on their hands who suddenly lacks sufficient motivation and incentive to fulfil his potential. Brendan Rodgers bluntly told Sterling not to wave goodbye to Liverpool . It was telling that manager Brendan Rodgers said pointedly on Saturday: ‘I think it is quite obvious when you look at it is that anyone with his [Sterling’s] best interests at heart knows his best option is to sign a new deal for Liverpool.’ The club also doesn’t want to unsettle the rest of the squad by bowing to Sterling's demands. Liverpool are also relaxed about the situation not least because Sterling’s current contract does not expire until the summer of 2017. Sam Allardyce's days are numbered as West Ham manager. The club are set to sever his contract on May 25, the day after the last game of the season against Newcastle. Even if the Hammers have a good end to the season there is no way back for Allardyce whose current contract expires in July. The 3-0 defeat at Arsenal took West Ham's Premier League run to just one win in 12. Sam Allardyce looks aggrieved during West Ham's latest capitulation at the Emirates . The West Ham board still harbour hopes of luring Carlos Tevez to the club next season from Juventus in their last season at the Boleyn Ground before moving to the Olympic Stadium. The club’s hierarchy see former cult hero Tevez as a platinum signing that can help attract a new fan base. Carlos Tevez is wanted by the Hammers as a marquee signing in their final year at Upton Park . Everton could move for Chelsea’s misfit striker Loic Remy this summer if they decide to cash in on wantaway Romelu Lukaku. Radamel Falcao, as revealed by the Football Grapevine, will not stay at Manchester United beyond this season’s loan deal from Monaco, where indeed the Colombian could well be playing his football again next season. Radamel Falcao could return to Monaco after a frustrating first year in the Premier League . I am hearing . Tottenham’s Danny Rose is set to get an England call-up for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania later this month to prevent him opting to declare for Jamaica. BTW . Luis Suarez last week claimed it was English media which forced him to quit Liverpool last summer and join Barcelona. Utter tosh. The main reason Suarez left Liverpool is because he had been hankering for a dream move to Spain for over a year. And he also wanted to nearly double his salary. Luis suarez looks glum as Liverpool's title hopes evaporate on a crazy night at Selhurst Park last year . Suarez grins from ear to ear as the Uruguayan is turning it on for La Liga leaders Barcelona . Yes the press reported various indiscretions by the Uruguayan, including a race row, a propensity to dive and a habit of assaulting opponents from time to time. That’s part of the job. What did Suarez expect? High fives? Or flowers? Yet for all that, the English press still honoured Suarez last season when the Football Writers Association (FWA) voted him as their player of the year. That’s hardly hounding a player out, is it? I-Say . Jamie Carragher labelled the behaviour of Chelsea players in Champions League defeat by PSG as a ‘disgrace’. Fellow Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness described the manner in which the Chelsea players pressurised referee Bjorn Kuipers to send off Zlatan Ibrahimovic as pathetic. Ibrahimovic called the Chelsea players ‘babies’. I can’t disagree with any of those verdicts. I just found it embarrassing. Yet in the commentary box, Gary Neville almost paid the Chelsea players a compliment by calling them ‘shrewd’. Really? Chelsea players surround Bjorn Kuipers as the Dutch official sends off Zlatan Ibrahimovic . Matches between Manchester United and Tottenham have often been entertaining and full of goals down the years, although this season’s encounter at White Hart Lane ended 0-0. Coral offer 12-1 on the same outcome. For the more adventurous, they offer 50-1 for 3-3. Harry Kane is 6-1 to be first scorer. Shrewd is being clever, not cheating then is it? Does an employee of the Football Association - Neville has a role as England boss Roy Hodgson’s assistant - advocate cheating? Let’s not forget one of the main roles of the FA is to act as custodians of the game, uphold discipline and even offer a moral lead. Once again there would seem a conflict of interest with Neville being an opinionated media pundit AND a senior member of the England coaching staff. After all, do we want to see England players acting in the same pathetic manner, as Souness put it, as the Chelsea players did last week? I think not.
Gareth Bale's suitors now include Chelsea and Manchester City . Chelsea may put a £20m price tag on Petr Cech . West Ham want a sensational reunion with Carlos Tevez . Liverpool are convinced there is no interest from Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Chelsea or Manchester United in Sterling . And they will test that theory by slapping on a £50m price tag .