Paper Round: Wenger closing in on pricey Germany superstar

Arsenal have made a £43 million bid for winger Julian Draxler, according to the Sun. Arsenal were interested in Draxler last summer while he was at Schalke, before the 22-year-old signed a five-year deal with Wolfsburg. The German international is back on the Gunners radar thanks to his strong season and good performances at Euro 2016.

Paper Round's view: Draxler is one of Arsene Wenger's long term dream projects - but he'll be kicking himself for not having made a move earlier since his fine play in the last 12 months will have boosted that price tag enormously. A wide player who might be turned into a dangerous striker over time, just as Wenger did with Robin Van Persie all those years ago. But that dream now looks mighty expensive at £43 million; will Arsenal even bother going back again if Wolfsburg reject the £43 million bid?

Readers of Friday morning's papers in the UK will see that Juventus have made a bid of £26 million for Alex Sanchez, according to the Sun. The bid is significantly lower than the £33 million that Arsenal used to pry him away from Barcelona two seasons ago, and is unlikely to be even dignified by the London club for a man who has since lead Chile to back-to-back Copa America victories.

Indeed, so desultory was that bid that Juve have already upped it to £30m (€35m), according to the Italian press this morning, a la Tuttosport:

The key detail is in The Sun, however: a claim that Sanchez's agent Fernando Felicevich has told Arsenal that Sanchez wants to leave the club. Juventus appear to be the only ones working on this information - though that won't last long, given that it's now all over the back pages - and are working to secure him on this basis.

Paper Round's view: It was an almost laughable bid to open proceedings from Juventus - possibly some mistake on the GBP-Euro exchange rate in this post-Brexit world? And even the upped offer doesn't look great.

But also not looking great are Arsenal's hopes of keeping the former Barcelona star - because if he want to leave, then his suitors will find the money to make it happen. The Old Lady's money from the impending sale of Paul Pogba will leave them flush with cash; a serious bid might not be that far away, and if Sanchez wants to go to a bigger club with greater ambition and drive then who could blame him?

Leonardo Bonucci's agent is in talks with Manchester City, according to the Sun. The report says that City have had a bid of £38 million for the defender turned down, with the club and Bonucci's agent in the mean time discussing personal terms. The 29-year-old was open to a move with Chelsea under old boss Antonio Conte, but now however will not reunite as Conte has an agreement with Juventus not to poach any of their players.

Paper Round's view: This looks a very real prospect of going through, possibly leaving Manchester City's defensive pairing to be John Stones and Bonucci next season. The question is where does this leave captain Vincent Kompany, as many would be watching the moves at the Etihad closely to snare a player on the cheap.

Middlesbrough, Stoke and Sunderland are all showing interest in Dortmund's Neven Subotic, according to the Daily Mail. The report says that the defender has been released from Dortmund's pre-season training camp to hold talks with the clubs in question, with all parties told that he could be sold for £6.5 million. Sunderland and Stoke have both shown interest, however work permit issues may slow a move down in the short term. Middlesbrough are reportedly confident of snaring the 27-year-old, as Bundesliga club Cologne are also assessing a move.

Paper Round's view: Middlesbrough would have gone a long way to ensure Premier League survival by shoring up their defence with Valdes and Subotic. Subotic is a proven Champions League quality player, and would be a massive asset to any club who can with the race for his services.