Paper Round: Chelsea's £200m body blow, Atletico Madrid to thwart Antoine Griezmann's Man Utd move

Chelsea face the prospect of losing Eden Hazard and Diego Costa this summer. The Sun reports that Real Madrid will come in with a £100m world-record bid for Hazard (the Mirror claim £120m), and say it will take £200m for Chelsea to replace the Belgian and Costa, who is rumoured to be unhappy with the English weather and has been linked with a move to China as well as back to former club Atletico Madrid.

Paper Round’s view: It’s the rumour which won’t go away. Hazard to Real. It seems likely the Spanish giants will move for the playmaker, but will Chelsea give in? After what looks set to be a title-winning season, the Blues will not want to lose their best players when Champions League football returns to Stamford Bride. A Galactico will head to Real, and Hazard fits the bill – expect Chelsea to fight tooth and nail to keep him.

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The Antoine Griezmann to Manchester United rumours have persisted for some months now, but the Daily Star report that Atletico Madrid will offer the striker a bumper deal to keep him in Spain. It is widely expected that the Frenchman will join United this summer, but Atleti are willing to lift his wages from £120,000-a-week to £180,000 – while slapping on a £130m release clause in the process.

Paper Round’s view: Another will he, won’t he which will dominate the gossip columns this summer. It’s no surprise to see that Atleti are determined to hold onto their star man. Will it depend on whether United qualify for the Champions League? Well we’ll just have to find out, won’t we…

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Alexis Sanchez is on his way to Manchester City, according to reports in Chile. City have become the surprise favourites to land the forward for £50m, with the opportunity for Sanchez to reunite with Pep Guardiola being cited as the main reason. It would go against past claims that Sanchez wants to move to another London club, which led many to believe that he desired a move to Chelsea.

Paper Round’s view: The sooner Arsenal fans learn the fate of Arsene Wenger, Mesut Ozil and Sanchez the better. It is seriously disrupting their club and they are in danger of sinking without a trace as far as this season is concerned. Losing Sanchez would be the biggest blow, and to a league rival would make it even worse. They’ll want to avoid that altogether this summer, but player power could be strong with this one.

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Ronald Koeman will move for Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson when the transfer window opens, the DailyMail reports. The Everton boss wanted to sign the Icelandic international last summer but Swansea were not willing to sell up. However, possible relegation could see the Swans losing their star players – a list which Sigurdsson certainly tops.

Paper Round’s view: Is it a stretch to call Sigurdsson the best player among the Premier League’s bottom-half clubs? Following Crystal Palace’s showing against Arsenal, Wilfried Zaha, Andros Townsend and Christian Benteke would have something to say about that, but it can’t be denied that Sigurdsson is a class above Swansea. At 27, he has plenty still to offer and would be a perfect signing for Everton. And with Koeman admitting Ross Barkley could be sold, would that be a direct replacement?

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