Manchester United eye £10m Facundo Pellistri - Paper Round

Manchester United are reportedly interested in right-winger Facundo Pellistri, who plays for Uruguayan side Penarol. The 18-year-old player is managed by former United player - and teammate of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer - Diego Forlan, and has a £10 million release clause, which may make United act quickly with his current deal expiring in 2022.

Paper Round’s view: If Pellistri is keen on moving to United in order to develop his career then he would be taking a big risk. United are known for developing young talent but the furthest afield that has ever really worked out is Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal. The best they have done for a young South American talent is Rafael, whose ability was ultimately squandered.

Arsenal are ready to sell one of Alexandre Lacazette, Matteo Guendouzi or Lucas Torreira in order to sign Atletico Madrid midfielder Thomas Partey. The club want to sign the 27-year-old Ghanaian international but in order to balance the books they will have to let someone go. The Daily Mail suggests that Mesut Ozil is likely to stay on his £350,000-a-week wages.

Paper Round’s view: Ozil is a brilliant talent and if he is fired up there is little reason to let him go. Similarly, he is earning so much money that there is no reason for the German player to want to leave. Better he is given a chance to contribute while Partey is brought in to provide attacking discipline. Matteo Guendouzi would be the obvious player to sacrifice.

The Mail believes that Jurgen Klopp sees a future for Curtis Jones. The 19-year-old has been brought into first-team action and has signed a new deal. The manager said: “This is a little different to the announcement we made last year when Curtis signed his last contract. That was about both the player and club making a long-term commitment to each other.”

Paper Round’s view: Liverpool were conservatively financed but their huge expenditures, on Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, worked well. In order to keep that going they have to bring through their best youth players so that funds can be focused on the best value and most important markets - Jones and others like him allow that system to continue.

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has explained the sale of right-back Achraf Hakimi to Inter Milan. The 21-year-old Moroccan defender has been on loan at Borussia Dortmund and will join the Italian side for around 40 million euros. Zidane said: “Two things matter at this club: the economic side and the sporting side."

Paper Round’s view: Spanish newspaper Marca believes that the consistency showed by Dani Carvajal allows Real the wiggle room to sell Hakimi. Given the financial restrictions of Covid-19 it would make sense to raise a significant sum in order to deal with the hardship on the way.