Paper Round: Jose Mourinho wants Raphael Varane at Manchester United

Manchester United are planning for the summer already, and Jose Mourinho has lined up his central defensive target. Mourinho wants to sign Raphael Varane from Real Madrid. The 24-year-old French defender has impressed for the last couple of years alongside Sergio Ramos, and recently acknowledged there has been indirect contact with Mourinho. The Portuguese manager has long been a fan, and need to improve his defence.

Paper Round's view: Varane would cost around £50m, but there's no reason to doubt that United can afford such a figure. They continue to increase their revenue and will shed players in the summer to lessen a bloated wage bill. Most important for United is that if they do sign Varane, that they manage to keep hold of David de Gea, who Real have wanted for years.

Bayern Munich are planning for life after Jupp Heynckes. It is not clear if Heynckes will extend his stay after replacing Carlo Ancelotti at short notice, but former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann says that Bayern have been in contact with Pochettino over the job should it come free. Pochettino's current deal at Spurs runs until 2021 and he is attracting attention from some of Europe's biggest club.

Paper Round's view: Pochettino won't be available for long. As well as he has done at Spurs, and as happy as he appears, the natural ceiling on their success means he will almost certainly go elsewhere in the next year or two. Bayern would be able to offer him plenty of financial clout, and the chance to work with some of the best players in the world, as well as the change to compete for domestic and European trophies.

Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has given a strong indication that he will turn down any move from Real Madrid - this summer at least. He said he is committed to Chelsea, not just for this year but the next, and that he is waiting until the summer to sign any new contract. His current deal runs until 2019, and there is also interest from Paris Saint-Germain for the 25-year-old Belgian international.

Paper Round's view: Paris Saint-Germain need Courtois more than Real do, but Real can offer Courtois the city that his children live in, which would surely be a bigger pull. Courtois is perhaps the best goalkeeper in the world, and emerged as such at Stamford Bridge following a spell at Atletico Madrid. Perhaps he is unwilling to upset the circumstances that have given him such a successful career so far.

Borussia Dortmund are set to follow up their acquisition of Jadon Sancho from Manchester City by taking another teenage talent from a Premier League club. Domingos Quina is highly regarded at West Ham as a serious prospect for the future, but has failed to impress in cup games when fielded by current manager David Moyes. Should West Ham go down then the club might let the 18-year-old Portuguese youth international go to raise funds for a promotion bid.

Paper Round's view: David Moyes' ability to bring through youngsters has been damaged since he left Everton, where he had a brief success with then-United winger Adnan Januzaj before reverting to a more conservative approach in the jobs that followed his Manchester United tenure. For Quina, there is little compelling reason to stay at West Ham when it is in crisis compared to the successful and measured Dortmund, who have a track record of developing and selling on some excellent players.