• 26-year-old Cahill has seven England caps and will cost £7m
• Defender looks set to replace Alex who could join QPR

The England defender Gary Cahill is on the verge of becoming a Chelsea player after passing a medical, the Premier League club’s manager, André Villas-Boas, said after his side’s 1-0 defeat of Sunderland which consolidated fourth place.

After days of negotiations over the Bolton Wanderers centre-back’s terms, the deal now looks a formality after the medical at the London club’s training ground earlier on Saturday. “Gary passed his medical and should be our player soon,” Villas-Boas was quoted as saying by the BBC.

The 26-year-old, who has seven caps and will cost Chelsea about £7m according to reports, will link up at Chelsea with the England captain, John Terry, and looks set to replace Alex.

Reports say the Brazilian defender, who asked for a transfer due to a lack of first-team opportunities, could join Chelsea’s neighbours Queens Park Rangers.

Cahill joined Bolton from Aston Villa in 2008 with his career apparently going backwards but he has developed into an outstanding defender even though Owen Coyle’s side have struggled all season.

Chelsea have moved now with Cahill out of contract at Bolton at the end of the season. Tottenham Hotspur had also previously shown interest in the defender.

He will now compete with Brazilian David Luiz to be Terry’s central defensive partner, with Cahill fighting for a place in England’s Euro 2012 squad.

ChelseaAndré Villas-BoasTransfer windowBolton Wanderersguardian.co.uk

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

The former Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka might have benefited from a chat with his Argentina-bound compatriot before signing for Shanghai Shenhua

Nicolas Anelka has always come across as happily nonconformist, so it is unlikely that he would have consulted with one of his oldest footballing allies before leaving Chelsea for Shanghai Shenhua. But a word in the ear of David Trezeguet might have given an interesting perspective on departing European football for a distant, if lucrative outpost. Evidently it is not always the most rewarding decision.

Back in August, Trezeguet signed up for what appeared to be an easy stroll in the sunshine, backed up with a handsome payday, in the United Arab Emirates. He agreed a one-year deal with Baniyas SC, the club with the camel on its badge who are based in Abu Dhabi. But Trezeguet’s stay lasted only three months. Injuries, which limited him to fewer than a handful of appearances, were cited as the official reason as the player terminated his contract. The club even praised his honesty, thanking him for not wanting to pick up a fat cheque when he felt he couldn’t contribute.

But come the January transfer window, it seems matters of the heart convinced Trezeguet to wave an early farewell to Abu Dhabi. A call to arms from his boyhood club, River Plate in Argentina – his parents are Argentinian – proved irresistible. Trezeguet’s injury concerns have miraculously disappeared, and the 34-year-old striker has fulfilled a lifetime ambition by signing a three-year deal. He is so spellbound he felt compelled to compare the act of joining River to winning the World Cup with France or collecting titles with Juventus and Monaco. “For me football is passion and I wasn’t getting that in Arabian football … What better place to experience that than here?” he enthused. “Being here is a unique feeling, motivated by everything that River represents.”

Trezeguet is the latest player with Argentinian roots who has cut short a career overseas to join the cause of the River revival. Fernando Cavenaghi, who had won the league with Bordeaux, and Alejandro Domínguez, who earned titles with Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan in Russia, also mounted metaphorical white horses to ride all the way back to Buenos Aires. Another, Leonardo Ponzio, will join this month from Real Zaragoza.

River are on a mission to recover from the horror of last season’s relegation. They are currently second in Argentina’s Primera B Nacional, and the arrival of experienced players who know what it takes to be in a winning team is a fantastic boost when River need it most. At a time when most players haggle over this many thousands and that many millions to finalise moves, thank goodness for the few who turn their back on the bucks to chase rewards of a purer kind.

Trezeguet is a particularly influential person to bring into this situation as he went through the decline and renaissance of Juventus, the Serie A club where he spent a decade. Notably, players such as Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero all stuck around when Juve were demoted to Serie B, and their guidance was crucial in helping along the young players who came into a strange situation. “Our shirt represents a history and the Juventus youngsters understood that,” Trezeguet said. “River are going through a very difficult time … I want to be part of the history [of their recovery].”

Although Trezeguet may be known for his achievements in the blue shirt of France, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and cracked in the goal to claim the 2000 European Championship, he has always maintained a strong connection with his Argentinian roots. He was born in Rouen, where his father, Jorge, played for three seasons in the 1970s. But Trezeguet spent most of his youth in Argentina, before heading back to France in his teens to further his career.

It was there that he struck up a friendship with fellow strikers with whom he would grow up at the Clairefontaine academy, Thierry Henry, and the kid from the year below, Anelka. This month they are all on the move, probably for the last time. Trezeguet has followed his heart to River, Henry is following his back to Arsenal. We can only wait and see how much love Anelka generates for his new life in China.

River PlateChelseaTransfer windowAmy Lawrenceguardian.co.uk