Paper Round: Palace target Berahino bid, Barkley to get boot

The Times reports on Thursday that the English Football Association has been urged to bid to host the 2030 World Cup, stating that there would be "widespread support" for the move. According to the newspaper, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, president of the Asian football confederation, has also stepped up to advise on how to avoid the issues it suffered in previous attempts to host the 2006 and 2018 tournaments.

Paper Round’s view: Well, let's not dwell on the past, eh FIFA? Except that to note England - fans and players alike - didn't exactly cover themselves in glory during the last major international tournament the team was involved in, in France last summer. Aside from all of that, surely the World Cup is about to rival the Eurovision Song Contest as an event no one really wants to deal with - there are about to be 16 more mouths to feed.

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Following on from yesterday's reports that Sam Allardyce was ready "sacrifice" £30 million striker Christian Benteke in a bid to raise funds for his 16th place Crystal Palace, it's reported on Thursday that Benteke will be part of a swap deal between Palace and West Brom for "unsettled" striker Saido Berahino. According to reports, Berahino would be allowed to finally leave West Brom if The Baggies are also prepared to part with £16 million for Benteke at the same time.

Paper Round’s view: We're still not really over the prospect of Big Sam wanting to get rid of Benteke, given the current predicament Palace find themselves in. While Berahino has clearly wanted to leave West Brom for some time, and really we see no point in them holding him to ransom at this stage, the 23-year-old hasn't played a competitive game since early September - is he really the answer to Palace's woes?

Everton manager Ronald Koeman is said to be ready to show midfielder Ross Barkley the red card as part of his January shake-up at Goodison Park. Having already signed Charlton Athletic wonder-boy Ademola Lookman and Manchester United's Morgan Schneiderlin, competition is hotting up in the Everton squad and Barkley could be surplus to requirements as Koeman chases a place in Europe next season.

Paper Round's view: There's clearly not a lot of love lost between Koeman and Barkley, the manager having publicly criticised him and left him out of the Everton squad. Of course, you never know when you might get your chance again in the Premier League, as many a Manchester United player has found this season while Mourinho has searched for the winning combination, but with Spurs showing an interest, we know what we'd do if we were Barkley.

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It's reported on Thursday that England Cricket captain Alastair Cook is set to resign. The 32-year-old is due to meet England's director of Cricket, Andrew Strauss, on Friday for what's called a "post-series debrief" but Cook, over whose captaincy a question mark has lingered since last year, will officially ask to leave his role after a humiliating 4-0 series defeat by India just before Christmas.

Paper Round’s view: If Cook resigns, this will come as a surprise to no one. Having been hinting for months he's ready to take a lesser role in the team and with Joe Root poised to step up, it should come sooner rather than later if it is the inevitability many suspect. There's this little competition called The Ashes coming up - wouldn't it be better to have Root bed in before that?

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