Manager Roy Hodgson is considering the 34-year-old for his next squad – England face a double-header away at San Marino and Montenegro later in the month as they look to seal qualification for World Cup 2014 – as he is without a number of his best defensive options.
Hodgson’s current best pairing is Gary Cahill and Joleon Lescott, despite both missing matches for Chelsea and Manchester City respectively in recent weeks.
Beyond that, with Chris Smalling and Phil Jagielka injured, Hodgson is left with the likes of Michael Dawson, Ryan Shawcross and Steven Caulker to pick in the squad. Steven Taylor of Newcastle, adds the Guardian, could be in line for a first international call-up.
All of which leads Hodgson to reconsider Ferdinand, who has been playing regularly for Manchester United and is arguably the best English defender available to Hodgson.
Hodgson has left Ferdinand out of his plans since he became manager, famously citing ‘football reasons’.
But most believe that it came down to a straight choice between choosing John Terry or Ferdinand, with the pair’s relationship terminally damaged by allegations that the Chelsea defender racially abused Ferdinand’s brother Anton.
Terry was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence in court last year, but did subsequently serve an FA suspension.
Now that Terry has retired from England duty, the path appears clearer for Ferdinand to feature, but it would still represent a significant turnaround if Hodgson came back to Hodgson.
Elsewhere, and the papers seem to be unanimous – the next manager at Reading will be the Italian Paolo di Canio.
The ex-Swindon boss’s tempestuous reign saw him take the Robins up a division and be in the mix for a second successive promotion, but instead he could find himself with nine games to try and save Reading’s Premier League status.
In transfer tittle-tattle, there’s a few juicy lines.
The Daily Mail say Luka Modric is unhappy in Spain, having been on the fringe of the Real Madrid side, and is eager for a move back to the Premier League with Manchester United.
The same paper also writes that Barcelona expect Arsenal to make a summer bid for Victor Valdes, although Wenger is also interested in Liverpool’s Pepe Reina as a new goalkeeper.
The Sun, meanwhile, suggest that Chelsea and Manchester City will go head-to-head in the summer for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, the Saint-Etienne striker who already has 32 goals to his name this season. Newcastle were closely linked with a January move for him earlier in the year.
