Manchester United and City 'ready to battle' for Kalidou Koulibaly - Paper Round

Manchester United and Manchester City may have a chance to sign Napoli central defender Kalidou Koulibaly. The 29-year-old Senegalese defender could be available for £80 million after the Italian side signed Victor Osimhen from Lille, meaning they may have to raise funds from elsewhere, according to the Sun. The player could fill in alongside Harry Maguire.

Paper Round’s view: Koulibaly’s left-footedness allows teams more balance than would ordinarily be allowed in a system with four players at the back, and as a result they trade at a premium. City have Nathan Ake from Bournemouth should the move go through, but they may have untold amounts of cash to spend now give UEFA have been defeated at the CAS.

Inter Milan are ready to do a deal for Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, reports the Mirror. Jose Mourinho’s side want to keep the 23-year-old player but he is ready to leave the club after failing to break through into the first team. Antonio Conte is ready to offer Milan Skriniar in an attempt to make a player-swap deal happen.

Paper Round’s view: Ndombele is clearly an excellent player and with his talent he can make it anywhere in Europe. While Mourinho is a brilliant manager there is no point being a sacrificial example that he offers in order to take control of his squad, and if Spurs can get a replacement for Jan Vertonghen at the same time then they may as well let the switch go ahead.

The Daily Mail reports a story that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang almost joined Chelsea last winter. The Gabonese striker was ready to force through a move to the West London club but his wage demands prevented anything being completed. His demands would have made him the highest paid player at Stamford Bridge but any new move would require a compromise on his part.

Paper Round’s view: Aubameyang is now 31 and there is little reason to think that he will become meaningfully better. Chelsea would improve to have him in their squad, but there is such a huge gap between them and Liverpool and Manchester City that paying Aubameyang to join them would have to prove worth the cash immediately and for several years thereafter.

Spanish newspaper Marca reports that Real Madrid are ready to raise funds by selling many of their squad players. Dani Ceballos is one on the list, but he is joined by Oscar Rodriguez, Sergio Reguilon, Takefusa Kubo, Dani Gomez and potentially Martin Odegaard who could join Achraf Hakimi, Javi Sanchez, and Jorge de Frutos in leaving the club.

Paper Round’s view: Coronavirus has hit Spanish clubs heavily this year and they need to raise money in order to survive. Luckily for Real they are well stocked with players and have the chance to move them on in order to raise funds. Whether they can do so intelligently while adding to their weak areas is another matter.