Mikel Arteta identifies £50m Danilo Pereira as Matteo Guendouzi replacement - Paper Round

Arsenal could lose their young French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi, according to the Daily Mail. The 21-year-old Frenchman was dropped for Arsenal’s most recent game, against Southampton earlier in the week. The paper claims that while Mikel Arteta wants to keep him, there is interest from both Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona for the player. Arteta wants to keep him though, saying of players: "If they want to jump on the boat, they are more than welcome".

Paper Round’s view: At 21, Guendouzi’s passion is likely more of an asset than a liability and any club will have to work to curb his temper. It clearly backfired against Brighton but Arsenal’s problem has rarely been that they cared too much about winning a game. The interest from Barca and PSG is a sign that they have an excellent prospect on their hands.

The Sun meanwhile suggests that Arsenal have already found a potential replacement for Guendouzi. Danilo Pereira is said to be in line for a move to London should the youngster leave, and the 28-year-old Porto midfielder has a release clause of 55 million euros. Porto’s Financial Fair Play obligations could see them happy to do a deal in order to balance the books.

Paper Round’s view: Pereira is a perfectly competent player and would likely be able to cope with the demands of the Premier League, but at 28 years old he would not have much room to improve on his current level. His release clause might make for an easy transfer but there would be more rewards in being able to keep hold of Guendouzi for the long term.

Scottish champions Celtic are interested in former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, according to the Telegraph. The paper reports that Neil Lennon would prefer to keep Fraser Forster on another one-year loan from Southampton but he may be recalled to the Premier League side, but if they do not sign the 32-year-old goalkeeper they will then turn to Hart.

Paper Round’s view: Hart was never able to hold down a starting place during his time at Burnley and at 33 years old he has perhaps one last chance to find somewhere he can get regular football. While something of a step down, Celtic would offer regular trophies and maybe even the occasional run in European football given their dominance in Scottish football.

Barcelona’s midfielder Arthur is due in Turin to complete his proposed move to Juventus, reports Spanish newspaper Marca. The 23-year-old Brazilian is set to rubberstamp the deal which will see him play for Juventus from the start of next season. Juventus’ 30-year-old Miralem Pjanic will be heading the other way.

Paper Round’s view: The move for both players allows the clubs to report a profit on their transfer dealings in respect of buying both Arthur and Pjanic in previous seasons. As for Barcelona it is clear that they face a huge financial problem that has no obvious solution. Expect more player sales to come and an attempt to find bargain replacements.