Pressure on Premier League to end pay-per-view policy - Paper Round

Premier League chiefs are under pressure to end the current pay-per-view scheme as England prepares to enter a second lockdown. According to the Mirror, the top-flight bosses are meeting this week after fans called for the £14.95 fee to watch certain matches to be scrapped. However, now the country is about to enter another lockdown period, the government could intervene like they did for Project Restart, where every match was shown on television. Premier League clubs are set to review the pay-per-view policy and the scheme is likely to change after November's international break.

Paper Round's view: The pay-per-view scheme is absolutely absurd. The decision to make fans pay £14.95 to watch a match is ridiculous and it seems to have failed. Football should be accessible for the fans and if no one is allowed into stadiums, the clubs should make it easier for the supporters to follow their matches. It seems like next weekend's gameweek will be the last with the £14.95 fee, but it will be interesting to see whether the whole pay-per-view policy will be scrapped or if the price will be just reduced. Realistically, if the country is entering another lockdown, the Premier League should do what they did previously and just show every match on television.

Chelsea are lining up a January move for Malmo defender Anel Ahmedhodzic, according to the Sun. The 21-year-old has attracted the attention of multiple European clubs, with the west London side prepared to bid £6.9 million for Ahmedhodzic and offer him a five-year deal. The Bosnia international previously played for Nottingham Forest, but only made one appearance - as a substitute against Newcastle United - for the Championship club before returning to Malmo in 2019, where he spent his youth career.

Paper Round's view: There are definitely some defensive issues at Chelsea that need to be resolved (despite their run of four clean sheets) but there are still too many centre-backs in Frank Lampard's squad. The club has five senior centre-halves in Thiago Silva, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger, Andreas Christensen and Fikayo Tomori. Then there's Ethan Ampadu, Jake Clarke-Salter, Marc Guehi, Matt Miazga and Malang Sarr - who are all out on loan. Maybe the issue at Chelsea is the defensive coaching. These aren't bad players but some of the mistakes they have made so far this season are comical. There's no real need to sign another young defender when it's an area that is bloated. Lampard should only move for a ready-made, world-class centre-back should one become available.

Bayern Munich club president Herbert Hainer has confirmed that the German champions have withdrawn their offer of a contract extension to David Alaba. The versatile Austrian is out of contract next summer and will be free to talk to clubs from January. Alaba has been at Bayern Munich since 2008, but it now seems very unlikely that his lengthy stay will be extended. The 28-year-old failed to reach an agreement with his employers over a new contract and that could mean Bayern may even push to sell Alaba in the January window in order to receive a transfer fee for the defender.

Paper Round's view: Plenty of clubs will be perking up after hearing that news. Alaba is a genuine world-class footballer and - like Thiago Alcantara in the summer - seems to be ready to move on from Bayern Munich after winning pretty much every trophy possible. The Premier League will definitely be on his radar as the defender searches for a new challenge. Liverpool could make the most sense - given their current defensive crisis and Bayern's desire to bag a transfer fee in January. However, Manchester City could have the edge due to Pep Guardiola's previous stint as manager at Bayern Munich.

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has urged his former teammate and current club manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to "be selfish" ahead of the January transfer market. The Red Devils fell to their third home Premier League loss of the season in a 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday and Neville has taken aim at the club's recruitment policy. The 45-year-old has blamed the club's failure to sign a right-midfielder in the summer - namely Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho - and has now urged United boss Solskjaer to sell the players he doesn't want instead of "trying to keep everybody happy".

Paper Round's view: Manchester United have a bloated squad full of players that simply aren't good enough for the level they are trying to be at. Obviously the summer transfer window proved difficult for player sales due to the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Solskjaer is still stuck with the likes of Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo, Jesse Lingard and more in his squad. United need to be more proactive in their sales if they want to raise transfer funds and free up the wage bill in order to bring in some new faces. January is always a tough transfer market - so it might be ambitious for Neville to get his wish. Either way, it's more of a long-term aim for next summer.