Paper Round: Manchester City and Chelsea plan £100m spending sprees

This summer, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, Pablo Zabaleta and Jesus Navas will leave Manchester City, and Pep Guardiola wants to replace them with four full-backs. He's targeting Juventus full-back Dani Alves, Kyle Walker, Ryan Bertrand and Benjamin Mendy. The four players are expected to cost upwards of £110m, but the negotiations with Walker are the hardest, as Spurs have no financial need to sell, and a Champions League campaign of their own next season.

Paper Round's view: Manchester City are backed by as many petro-dollars as they need, so it makes sense that they don't hold back when solving their biggest weaknesses. The four defenders mentioned have a mix of experience, but they are all extremely talented, and should be a huge upgrade on their previous defenders. The only trouble they may have is keeping all four of them happy, with none of the players head and shoulders above the rest.

Antonio Conte has grown frustrated with Chelsea's transfer inertia and is aiming to bring in two Juventus defenders at a cost of £105. Alex Sandro, the wing-back, will be recruited to provide competition and rest for Marcos Alonso. With John Terry retiring, they are also trying to bring in 30-year-old Leonard Bonucci. Sandro has been told he can leave the club, so will be the much easier transfer to conclude.

Paper Round's view: Sandro is not much better than Alonso, if at all, but with the Champions League coming up, it makes sense that another player is recruited in his position not just for competition, but because playing as a wing-back is a gruelling task. It is sensible to split the duties more evenly, as they do at Spurs with four players for two positions. Bringing these two players in should ease any doubts that Conte has over the transfer plans of the club.

Newcastle manager has scheduled emergency talks with the Newcastle board after missing out on a series of transfer targets. Tammy Abraham joined Swansea City on loan. Willy Caballero has elected to become a back-up at Chelsea. Fabian Delph and Eliaquim Mangala are also wanted by Benitez, but are expected to join Stoke and Lyon respectively. Benitez's position was already in doubt but these failures could force him out of the club.

Paper Round's view: It never made a great deal of sense for Benitez to join Newcastle. Not because of the club itself, but because Mike Ashley seemed a reluctant owner for the best part of a decade, never quite willing to invest the sums that are needed to do anything but keep the club barely afloat. Benitez will hope for this to change, because having been sacked by Real Madrid, he could settle in as little more than a Championship manager.

Everton playmaker Ross Barkley wants to quit Everton in order to save his international career and make a splash at the 2018 Russia World Cup. Relations are strained with Ronald Koeman, and he has long been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs are thought to have cooled their interest, so a move to another club outside the top four is Barkley's likely destination.

Paper Round's view: Barkley has never been consistent, and if a strict manager like Koeman didn't have much success, then it makes sense for both club and the player that Barkley tries something new. Barkley needs to adapt to one single position, but also to be given plenty of game time on the pitch to mature from a promising youngster to a more consistently dangerous forward. Given he could cost £50m, it is a risk for any club that takes him on.