How Sancho can help Manchester City beat Manchester United to Erling Haaland transfer - Paper Round

Manchester City believe they have a plan that could help them beat local rivals Manchester United to the signature of Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland. The Sun reveal that City have a 15 per-cent sell-on clause for Haaland's teammate Jadon Sancho, who left the Premier League side for Dortmund back in 2017. The Germans value Sancho at around £120 million, meaning the buy-out clause could be worth nearly £20 million. City are willing to either waive or renegotiate the clause to gain an advantage over their rivals in the race for Haaland.

Paper Round's view: The race for Haaland is going to get interesting. The Sun state that the Norwegian striker has a £65 million buy-out clause that becomes active in the summer of 2022, but clubs are willing to pay a premium to sign him this summer. It seems like Manchester City are going to use the Sancho clause to their advantage and it makes sense. Pep Guardiola's side is in the process of a rebuild and the club desperately needs to sign Sergio Aguero's successor. Harry Kane's name has been mentioned, but it's unlikely Tottenham would sell to a rival... so Haaland would be the perfect signing. They won't want to see one of their top transfer targets join their city rivals, Manchester United.

Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney has become a long-term target for Serie A side Napoli after the Italians missed out on the former Celtic star before his move to north London back in 2019. The Telegraph report that the 23-year-old will be on Napoli's transfer shortlist in future transfer windows as the club look to strengthen at left-back. Gennaro Gattuso's side accept that signing Tierney at the moment is unlikely, and have identified Chelsea full-back Emerson Palmieri as a short-term alternative for the Scotland international. Napoli are looking at a six-month loan for the Emerson, who is currently second-choice to Ben Chilwell at Chelsea.

Paper Round's view: Attempting to sign Tierney from Arsenal would be an ambitious move from Napoli. It's difficult to say that moving to Naples would be a step up from the Emirates stadium, but the Italians are probably just planning on keeping an eye on their previous transfer target. The former Celtic full-back is excelling on the left-side of Arsenal's team and there plenty of Gunners legends and supporters have labelled him a 'future captain' of the club. If Arsenal have learnt anything from their past - they need to tie Tierney down to a new contract sooner rather than later.

Chelsea centre-back Fikayo Tomori is set to leave Stamford Bridge on loan in January. Blues boss Frank Lampard confirmed to football.london that the 23-year-old was left out of the Chelsea's squad for their third-round FA Cup win over Morecambe on Sunday as he is expected depart on loan during the winter transfer window. Tomori has only featured in Chelsea's match-day squad five times in the Premier League this season and has played just once - for 45 minutes in the second half against Liverpool in September. The England international was close to joining West Ham on a season-long loan on deadline day back in October, but the move fell through at the last minute.

Paper Round's view: It makes complete sense for Tomori to leave on loan. The Chelsea defender has barely played for the west London club so far this season and needs to play first-team football. Tomori's chances of making England's European Championship squad this summer are all-but over, but he needs to continue his development. Lampard gave the youngster plenty of minutes last season, but he lost his place following the arrival of experienced defender Thiago Silva from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window. Tomori now needs to rediscover his form and confidence. Plenty of Premier League sides could do a lot worse than signing the Chelsea centre-back.

Wayne Rooney will be confirmed as the permanent manager of Derby County this coming week as the club are set to successfully complete a takeover. Sheikh Khaled, a relation of Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour, is close to finalising the takeover of the Championship club and appointing Rooney as boss will be his first order of business. The former Manchester United forward will call time on his incredible 19-year playing career if he is given the chance to manage Derby on a permanent basis. Rooney has three wins and four draws in his first nine matches since being appointed as interim boss back in November.

Paper Round's view: Another legend is about to retire. Rooney has enjoyed a magnificent career but his return to England with Derby County seemed to be more about learning how to become a coach, rather than steering the Rams to Premier League promotion. When Derby's early-season struggles began, Phillip Cocu's sacking and Rooney's eventual appointment seemed inevitable. They currently sit in 22nd place in the Championship table, but the 35-year-old has helped them find a bit of form. Hopefully he will be able to steer Derby to safety and continue to get backing from the board and new owners to build on his debut season in management.