Football news - Gareth Bale 'open to China offers if wages exceed £1m-a-week'

Gareth Bale will consider offers from China if the wages exceed more than £1m-a-week, the Telegraph reports. After Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane revealed he wants the Welshman to leave the Bernabeu as soon as possible, it appears only a handful of Chinese Super League clubs could afford to match or beat the forward’s current £600,000-a-week salary. The Telegraph says Jiangsu Suning have joined Beijing Guoan in the race for Bale, although it is believed any club may have to meet or exceed the reported £1.7m-a-week Lionel Messi earns at Barcelona.

Paper Round’s view: At what stage do you ask yourself, how much is too much? Instead of asking himself what he would take to play in China, Bale should seriously be considering how much of a drop in wages he would take to play for a team with Champions League ambitions. Yes, the way he has been treated is unfair, and yes, he should claim every last Euro he can off Real if he is forced out the door, but his next move should be about football, not money.

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Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has identified Juventus forward Paulo Dybala as the “perfect playmaker”, the Daily Mail reports. Juve are willing to sell the Argentine if an offer between £70m and £90m is made, as they do not deem any player bar Cristiano Ronaldo as indispensable.

Paper Round’s view: The answer to Paul Pogba’s problems? Dybala and Pogba struck up a friendship at Juve, and the former’s arrival could go some way to appeasing the Frenchman, who has been linked with both a return to Turin as well as a move to Real Madrid.

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Tottenham are set to sign Giovani Lo Celso for £45m after Real Betis lowered their asking price, The Sun reports. Betis had been holding out for £60m, but the Argentina international could move for less after the Spanish club agreed a bargain of their own, with Nabil Fekir on the verge of joining from Lyon for £22.6m.

Paper Round’s view: Everyone’s a winner, it would seem. Just one year after almost joining Liverpool for some €60m, Fekir is about to go for less than half the price to Betis. Bizarre, but there you go.

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Arsenal have seen another attempt to sign Wilfried Zaha rebuffed by Crystal Palace, the Independent reports. A £55m offer with £10m dependent on clauses, plus Reiss Nelson on loan, was rejected by Palace, who will not budge in their £80m valuation of the Ivory Coast winger.

Paper Round’s view: Palace are within their rights to hold out for a bigger fee in what will become known as the ‘Harry Maguire went for £80m’ summer transfer window. Only Zaha can lower that fee by throwing his toys out the pram and forcing a move through, and even then, that might not be enough.