Paper Round: Manchester United's Alvaro Morata bid stalls as Real up the ante

The Sun reports on Wednesday that Manchester United’s bid for Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata has stalled as the La Liga champions have demanded almost £80 million for the 24-year-old. The story broke as it was rumoured that the United target had left his new wife on their honeymoon to ensure the deal went through, after his price-tag increased to the tune of almost £20m.

Paper Round’s view: Here at Paper Round, we’re often inclined to think there’s no smoke without fire when it comes to these much-hyped and persistent transfer rumours. That said, we hold our hands up and admit we’ve been wrong before (*coughs* Antoine Griezmann). We can see the appeal of United for Morata, as a team who could make him their main striker. That said, £80m is an awful lot of money to spend on a player who only made 26 league appearances last season.

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Arsenal are said to have offered wavering stars Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez a 20% pay premium if they stay on and help the North Londoners to a top-four finish next season. The long-running negotiations are rumoured to have stalled over demands made by the pair for salaries in excess of £300k per week, though the club are said to be prepared to pay somewhere in that region if the pair can commit to another season at the Emirates and restore the club to former European “glory.”

Paper Round’s view: Without Champions League football to offer players next season, Arsenal will struggle to attract top names, so their best bet may well be a fresh young talent (enter Kylian Mbappe?) or holding onto Sanchez and Ozil. Or, of course, a new manager – but that might be a longer term aspiration.

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The transfer rumour mill went into overdrive on Wednesday as Juventus defender Dani Alves appeared to signal his departure from the club in a social media post. On Instagram, Alves wrote: “Today ends our professional relationship and I will take with me all those who truly make Juve a great club.”

The Mirror reports that Alves is due to undergo a medical at Manchester City in the next week, having turned down a more generous offer from Premier League champions Chelsea.

Paper Round’s view: At 34-years-old, Alves is well over Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s alleged target age-range of under 30. So we’re not sure if we buy the story that the West London club were ready to better a reported deal worth £4.4m per season at the Etihad. A move to City is widely rumoured and it would be a reunion with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, which seems increasingly likely. Watch this space.

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The Mirror reports on Wednesday that Spurs are set to make Toby Alderweireld an offer he can’t refuse as the defender becomes a target for Inter Milan during the summer transfer window. According to the newspaper, £50k per week Alderweireld may see his salary doubled in a bid to ensure his head isn’t turned by Chinese-backed Serie A team Inter Milan.

Paper Round’s view: With Spurs rumoured to be on the brink of losing a number of defenders, they’ll be keen to keep hold of a player who contributed to the second highest number of clean sheets last season. Money does indeed talk, and it is true that the Belgium international was one of only a few key Spurs players not to pull up a pew next to Mauricio Pochettino and his faithful suit to sign an enhanced contract last season. That said, we’re not sure a transfer from Premier League runners-up to seventh-placed Serie A finishers would be the best career move right now.

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