Paper Round: Mesut Ozil’s tunnel bust-up at Tottenham, Man Utd must spend £155m on striker

The back pages were understandably purring over Emre Can’s stunning overhead kick for Liverpool against Watford on Monday night, but the Mirror reserved some column inches to report that Mesut Ozil was involved in a tunnel bust-up after Arsenal’s defeat at Tottenham on Sunday.

The German midfielder’s future has been cast into further doubt, with the paper claiming he responded badly to being nominated to take a post-match drugs test.

Ozil reportedly refused at first and was then threatened with a fine, before kicking a door to vent his frustration – unhappy with the amount of times he had been randomly selected this season.

Paper Round’s view: A mountain out of a molehill? Almost definitely, but ‘unsettled star throwing tantrum after loss’ is always going to gain some traction. Obviously, it’s a random test, so it’s tempting to tell Mesut to get a grip, but it’s also just speculation. ‘Huge if true’ – or not… It will have little bearing on whether he stays or goes, and as for showing an angry reaction after losing to your rivals – much rather that than a smile in defeat.

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In the transfer rumour which won’t go away, a report from the Daily Mail claims that Manchester United must fork out £155m to sign Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman has been heavily linked with a move to Old Trafford over the past few months, but it looks set to cost Jose Mourinho a world-record fee should they want to make the deal a reality.

Paper Round’s view: Ah, we can hear your despair from here. Another Griezmann story. But if it doesn’t fade away in the papers, then we can’t avoid it on Paper Round, particularly when the £155m-figure is being banded around. That is truly staggering – is any player worth that much? Perhaps not, but we certainly look forward to the summer when this saga is over once and for all. Such an amount seems far-fetched in what is already an inflated market. But hey, who knows…

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Chelsea believe they have won the race to sign Southampton centre-back Virgil van Dijk, The Sun reports. Antonio Conte will have to splash out £50m for the highly sought after defender, but the Premier League leaders are one of few clubs who will be willing to spend that amount. The London club could have competition from Manchester City in the summer, but for now, they remain favourites to land the Dutchman.

Paper Round’s view: A move which has been mooted for a while. And it makes perfect sense for all parties, with Chelsea needing to freshen up an aging defence. Of course, they may well end the season champions, but bolster the squad they must, and what a signing this would be. As for Southampton, yet another star looks set to leave. Some significant cash will come their way however, it just needs to be spent wisely once the 25-year-old moves on.

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Wilfried Zaha’s commitment to Ivory Coast has seen Tottenham cool their interest in the Crystal Palace winger, the Guardian writes. It has to do with the Africa Cup of Nations, with Spurs supposedly unwilling to spend a club-record amount on a player who could be missing for up to six weeks every two years. Spurs’ current record is the £30m spent on Moussa Sissoko, but it is believed they would have to eclipse that to prise Zaha away from Palace.

Paper Round’s view: As excuses go… This seems hard to believe. Major clubs have dealt with this factor for a long time now, but it seems to me that Daniel Levy is more reluctant to make another £30m mistake. Sure, Zaha appears to have great potential (it feels like this has been said for years now too), but having splashed out £30m on Sissoko, the chairman is probably reluctant to risk such an amount on a player who hasn’t always shown up to the races.