Paper Round: Zinedine Zidane backs £100m bid for next Galactico at Real Madrid

It is going to take a world-record bid from Real Madrid to prise Eden Hazard away from Chelsea, according to numerous reports. Zinedine Zidane’s Real have zeroed in on making the Belgian playmaker their next Galactico, and they are prepared to break the £100m-barrier, the Daily Mail claims. The 26-year-old still has three years left on his current contract at Chelsea, but the club are reportedly readying a new deal to ward off the interest from Spain.

Paper Round’s view: It’s time for another Galactico – and that’s pretty clear given that the elections for the Real presidency take place later this year. Current chief Florentino Perez will look to make another marquee signing and Hazard quite rightly fits the bill given his title-winning (nearly there) efforts this season. Only concern would be his absence of form during Chelsea’s faltering 2015-16 campaign – how would Hazard fare with the Bernabeu boo boys on his back?

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Southampton are anticipating bids within the region of £50m for defender Virgil Van Dijk this summer, and Chelsea are favourite to land the 25-year-old, according to the Telegraph. The Premier League leaders will look to make Van Dijk a long-term replacement for captain John Terry, who is unlikely to receive a new contract. Southampton meanwhile will look to bring in Liverpool's Mamadou Sakho to fill the gap.

Paper Round’s view: Van Dijk will be highly sought after this summer and it will be interesting to see what sort of fight Southampton put up. Champions League football at Stamford Bridge could prove to be all too tempting for the Dutchman, who would walk into their starting XI even with their impressive defensive record this season.

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A confusing headline, we apologise. But Rui Patricio became an instant favourite in Eurosport’s UK office when the Sporting goalkeeper TOPPED a vote on the website for who should win the 2016 Ballon d’Or. Of course, that was down to Sporting fans backing their man, but The Sun reports that the shotstopper could soon be on his way to Arsenal...

Paper Round’s view: Are Petr Cech’s powers on the wane? According to some newspaper reports they are, but surely the Czech has a couple more years at the top. That being said, a £13m move for a 29-year-old ‘keeper is good business. It would certainly get our vote.

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As players meander back to their respective clubs, there’s still time for a few news lines from Gareth Southgate before he retreats to St George’s until June. The one that stands out concerns Ross Barkley, who was keen to highlight his frustration at a lack of game-time this past week and year by liking a tweet stating just that (see below).

Southgate understands Barkley’s frustration – particularly as he had promised the Everton midfielder a run-out against Lithuania until the match turned out to be closer than intended – and told the 23-year-old his chance will come if his impressive performances with the Toffees keep up.

Paper Round’s view: Southgate marks highly for man-management so far, and this understanding of Barkley’s grievances could well pay dividends in the future. Barkley is still only 23, and has taken a while to take that next step. But thankfully transfer talk regarding the midfielder has somewhat dissolved and that will benefit Barkley, who is at the right club to continue developing.

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