Transfer news and rumours - Manchester United to allow six stars to leave in January - Paper Round

Manchester United are ready to offload a number of players in the January transfer window, with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looking to trim his bloated squad. The Sun state that the Red Devils boss will "hold showdown talks" with the fringe members of his squad during the week ahead of potential exits this month. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero is "all-but certain" to depart following a failed deadline day move back in October. Defensive duo Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo are wanted by Premier League pair West Brom and Newcastle, while youngster Brandon Williams could head to Southampton on loan. Jesse Lingard and Dan James are also mentioned as potential departures.

Paper Round's view: Welcome to the Manchester United winter sale. These are all players (except Williams and maybe James) who should have been offloaded last summer. Surely Solskjaer knew that Romero, Jones, Rojo and Lingard had no future at the club before the season started. Yes - the coronavirus pandemic had a huge financial impact on the transfer market, but United entered the season with far too much deadwood in their squad. If they can get decent fees for these players - or even just allow them to leave for free to get them off the wage bill - it would free up some transfer funds for the summer.

Paris Saint-Germain are set to return to Tottenham Hotspur with an offer for Dele Alli in January. The Mirror reveal that the newly-appointed PSG manager Mauricio Pochettino "will be allowed to shake up his squad" and a reunion with the England international is on the cards. The Parisian club made three offers for Alli back in the summer, but Spurs chairman Daniel Levy was not willing to allow the attacking midfielder to leave north London. Tottenham are still maintaining that Alli will not be allowed to leave the club in the winter window - despite his lack of appearances so far this campaign.

Paper Round's view: Dele Alli needs to be playing first-team football. It's clear that Tottenham boss Jose Mourinho doesn't fancy him. The Portuguese manager labelled the England international as "lazy" in the infamous All or Nothing Amazon documentary and he has only given the star one Premier League start this season. Alli was hooked at half-time in Tottenham's opener against Everton and has only played 29 minutes of top-flight football since. The 24-year-old's appearances have been limited in this campaign and a January transfer, whether loan or permanent, now looks likely. Pochettino got the best out of Alli at Spurs and could resurrect his career at PSG.

Manchester United will reject a loan bid for incoming winger Amad Diallo as Atalanta attempt to hold onto the 18-year-old for the remainder of the season. The youngster was signed from the Italians by United on deadline day earlier this season for €21 million, with a further €20m in potential add-on fees, and was loaned back to Atalanta while the Premier League club attempted to secure a work permit for Diallo. The Serie A side are now trying to keep the teen in Italy for the rest of the campaign, but United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants Diallo to join up with the rest of his squad in Manchester.

Paper Round's view: Will Diallo feature for Manchester United this season? It doesn't really matter. He's 18 years old and will take time to adjust to England. It's tough moving to a new country at any age, but Diallo is just a teenager and Solskjaer probably wants to give him time to get used to life in Manchester. The Ivorian-born winger has made just two appearances so far this season for Atalanta, so it's unclear why the Serie A side would even want to try and keep him for the rest of the season. Manchester is quite a bit different to Bergamo - so Diallo should try to use the next few months to adjust to his new surroundings.

Leeds United are set to reward star striker Patrick Bamford by offering him a new deal, according to The Sun. The Yorkshire club plan to open contract talks with the 27-year-old, who has scored nine Premier League goals already this season. Bamford's current deal has just 18 months remaining and Leeds are worried that rival clubs could begin to come in for the former Chelsea forward. The Premier League side are willing to hand an improved deal to the striker, who is currently earning £35,000 per week.

Paper Round's view: It makes complete sense for Leeds and Bamford. The English striker has just 18 months left on his current contract so Leeds won't want to invite interest from rival clubs. It's not even just about the time left on his current deal. Bamford is on fine form during Leeds' long-awaited return to the Premier League and deserves a pay rise. There were doubts about whether the 27-year-old would be able to perform in England's top tier following previous barren spells in the Premier League, but he has definitely proved his critics wrong.