Paper Round: Brendan Rodgers to snub Swansea City, eyeing England job

Brendan Rodgers will not be the next Swansea City manager. The Times understand that Rodgers is set to turn down the Swans' offer because he is aiming to be the next England manager. Swansea are in search of a new boss after the sacking of Garry Monk and Rodgers is their top choice, but the 42-year-old is aiming higher. The FA think highly of Rodgers and believe he has a good chance to being named the England manager if Roy Hodgson departs after Euros so the Northern Irishman will wait for that opportunity.

Paper Round's view - Swansea would be a nice bounce back job for Rodgers. His shine has worn off a bit because of what happened at Liverpool and going to a relatively stable club that he knows well would give him the chance to re-establish himself as one of the better young managers in the country. But if he thinks he has a real chance at the England job then it makes sense to wait and see if that pans out. It's not like Swansea is an amazing job he can't turn down and while England seems a little ambitious for him, it's not as if The FA have a great pool to choose from if Hodgson leaves.

Louis van Gaal may be fighting for his job. The Express claim that the Dutchman might be fired by Manchester United if his team fails to finish in the top three this season. The Red Devils want to guarantee a spot in next season's Champions League, which means finishing in the top three. If Van Gaal fails to do that, after crashing out of the Champions League, then he may not be long for Old Trafford. The domestic competition is more important to United than Europe so a top-three league finish will please the club.

Paper Round's view - Van Gaal is quite rightly under pressure. He got the team back into the Champions League with a fourth-place finish last season, but the club rightly demands progress. Finishing fourth again isn't that and, frankly, they may not even end the year that high. They can't point to Europe now as proof that they're getting better either, nor can they show that they're playing better football. They need to finish top three and it's on Van Gaal to get them there. If he cannot then United would be entirely in the right mind to reconsider whether he's the right man for the club. Then again, if things don't turn around, he may not make it to the end of the season.

Jack Wilshere may play before the end of the year, according to the Daily Mail. Wilshere hasn't played since breaking his leg prior to the season, but he is nearing the end of his rehabilitation and might make his first appearance of the campaign this month. If he cannot return before the new year, he will make his debut in January. Arsenal are desperate to get Wilshere back with so many injuries to their central midfield.

Paper Round's view - Arsenal could use all help they can get in their central midfield and Wilshere would be a massive boost, but it's not as if they count on him. Even if he's nearing a return from this injury, his history tells us that he could very well suffer a setback before he returns to the pitch, or even get injured again not long after his debut. At this point, Wilshere is a bonus, not someone to depend on, so Arsenal need to go and make the midfield signings they've been planning on.

West Brom won't even consider selling Saido Berahino to Tottenham. The Mirror report that the Baggies would be open to selling the forward, but not to Spurs. Jeremy Peace is still upset with Daniel Levy over the way Spurs bid for Berahino in the summer and won't even deal with the Tottenham chairman now. Chelsea are also interested in Berahino, but not nearly as much as Tottenham so the forward will likely stay at West Brom.

Paper Round's view - Whether Levy really was out of line in the summer is irrelevant at this point. Peace took the entire transfer saga very personally and made it clear that he had singled out the Spurs chairman and the club as a whole as having done wrong. With the inflammatory comments he made, he wasn't going to change course and do business with them in January. He certainly wasn't in the wake of Berahino's sinking form that has cut into his price. West Brom either have to find a suitor who will probably want to sign him on the cheap or hold onto him, risking going into the final year of his contract. It's not a great spot to be in, but that's where they are.

Manchester United are set to fight Spurs for Fulham's Moussa Dembele, according to The Evening Standard. The forward has scored nine times for the West London side and has thus far rejected the offer of a new contract with his current one expiring in the summer. Spurs have been long-time suitors for the 19-year-old and now United are involved. They too rate Dembele and he will be one of the club's summer targets.

Paper Round's view - Dembele's contract is up, but he won't be entirely free. Whoever signs him will have to pay Fulham training compensation, but that is much less than what a transfer fee would be for such a promising young striker who is scoring in the Championship. It will be interesting to see if one of the clubs move to sign him to a pre-contract, or even pay Fulham a small fee to lock him up early and then even loan him back to the Cottagers for the remainder of the season.