Football news - Paper Round: Leicester City to give Brendan Rodgers £200m transfer budget

Leicester City will give new manager Brendan Rodgers £200 million to spend to help the team back up the table, according to The Sun. Rodgers took over from Claude Puel and his first target will be Callum Wilson, who is linked with a £40million transfer to the King Power stadium. He hopes to keep Ben Chilwell, James Maddison, Demarai Gray and Harry Maguire at the club, too.

Paper Round’s view: Wilson’s pace and finishing ability would help Jamie Vardy share the attacking responsibility but would also give Leicester the chance to replace the England man, who has faded since his league-title winning season a couple of years ago. There are plenty of promising players at the club and Rodgers will be expected to make the most of their talent.

Prince William has spoken out against the Premier League and how the country’s clubs do not take proper care of young players, in his opinion. He voiced his concern over the fact that players are often given little assistance when they are no longer deemed good enough to remain at a club, saying: “Many players come from difficult backgrounds and may have all sorts of issues. So just to have them as a complete financial asset...it’s a dereliction of duty.”

Paper Round’s view: Prince William comes from a fairly traditional and conservative background, so if even he is speaking out in favour of taking more care of a group of people then it is fair to say that public opinion has probably shifted resolutely against clubs in favour of younger players. They obviously need more assistance when they are released, just as those who do turn professional need help with their finances after they retire.

The Daily Mail report that Queens Park Rangers could move into a new ground according to plans from Hammersmith and Fulham council. A £425 million redevelopment of Linford Christie athletics stadium, close to Loftus Road, could turn it into a 45,000-seater stadium with a pitch that could be turned into a roof for events, while QPR could lease the ground for the long term.

Paper Round’s view: There is a long history in Britain and also other countries of the state giving hugely expensive grounds to clubs either on the cheap, or allowing them to rent them for under market prices. This could be another of those cases, and with QPR’s Financial Fair Play worries, it might be what they need to finally get their budget under control. Whether that is the right thing to do or not is another matter.

Unai Emery may not be given the funds to replace retiring goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Czech goalkeeper is set to quit at the end of the season, but with money tight the paper thinks they will instead turn to on-loan keeper Emiliano Martinez, who is currently at Reading and impressing in the Championship.

Paper Round’s view: At 26, Martinez is young enough to improve his game as a goalkeeper, but Arsenal would be taking some risk. Not on Bernd Leno, who seems to have adapted well to the Premier League in his first season at the club, but that Martinez would be a reliable back-up should their first-choice suffer a serious injury next season.