Paper Round: Arsenal make breakthrough in Kieran Tierney deal

Arsenal are back in for Celtic defender Kieran Tierney, according to the Daily Mail. Unai Emery is concerned about the lack of cover in defence, exacerbated by Laurent Koscienly’s hissy fit over not being allowed to break his contract. Arsenal will restructure their deal to increase the initial payment made as part of their £25 million offer, as Napoli drop out of the race for the 22-year-old left-back.

Paper Round’s view: Arsenal’s signing of Nicolas Pepe has changed the atmosphere amongst fans enormously, and negates the need to chase Wilfried Zaha. Instead, they can now focus on improving their defence. The club have done little more than tread water Emery but he has earned the chance to be properly supported in the transfer market.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer gave little away when questioned about the possibility of signing Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, increasing the suspicion that a transfer between the two clubs is imminent. Solskjaer said when questioned: I’m not here to talk about any rumours or speculation about other team’s players. But of course we’re working on one or two cases, as I’ve said before.” The Mirror reports that United have grown tired of dealing with Inter Milan over Lukaku.

Paper Round’s view: Dybala is approximately 30 times the player that Lukaku is, and would also help Manchester United cope without Paul Pogba. Dybala offers creativity and a desire to impress on the pitch that Pogba has not been able to match on the pitch at Old Trafford. Removing Lukaku, who seems palpably overweight and unfit, would only help put the pressure on Luke Shaw too.

The Sun reports that Mauricio Pochettino is growing frustrated with the progress that Tottenham Hotspur are making over transfers this summer. He claimed that he was just the ‘coach’ rather than the manager and complained: “I am not in charge of this. I know nothing about the situation of my players, I am only coaching them, trying to get the best from them. Things that may or may not happen — sell or buy players, extend contracts or not extend contracts — it’s not in my hands, it’s in the club’s hands and in Daniel Levy’s hands.”

Paper Round’s view: It seems clear that Pochettino is shifting the blame and the pressure onto Levy over the relatively slow summer that Spurs are having in the market - for the second year in a row. It emerged last night that the club are interested in MLS striker Carlos Vela, which would suggest the club are in money-saving mode after initially surprising people with the Tanguy Ndombele transfer.

Leicester City are refusing to budge on their valuation of Harry Maguire, claims a report in the Telegraph. Manchester United had a bid of £60 million rejected for the 26-year-old England international but Leicester have been clear they are looking for around £85 million. The transfer could drag on until the end of the transfer window.

Paper Round’s view: Leicester still have time to complete a move for Lewis Dunk from Brighton, but that transfer will be increasingly difficult to complete if United do not hurry up. They have decided to focus on one position at a time this summer under Ed Woodward, which shows they need a much more competent figure in charge of transfers as sson as possible.