Paper Round: Real Madrid put £65m price tag on Sergio Ramos to deter Manchester United

Real Madrid put huge price tag on Ramos - Our lead story this morning comes from the Daily Mail, who claim that Real Madrid are asking as much as £65m for defender Sergio Ramos. Madrid have already turned down an offer of £35m from United and are said to be desperate to cling onto the player, with president Florentino Perez personally calling him to assure him he will get a new deal on favourable terms. Says the paper: "Madrid are increasingly concerned that the player has made up his mind to leave the Bernabeu after 10 years and may ultimately have to be sold. They will try to put United off by slapping a £65m price tag on Ramos after rejecting the opening offer. There is still a suspicion that the 29-year-old is using the situation to force a better deal out of his club, but United are determined to pursue their interest."

Paper Round's view: It's obviously a crazy price for a 29-year-old who has two years left on his contract and Madrid would have no hope of actually getting it, but putting such a prohibitive price tag on Ramos is a good way to ward off the persistent interest from United, who appear to have turned the player's head. It still seems most likely that Ramos will be rewarded for his tough stance with a big new contract.

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Manchester United reject Real Madrid's latest De Gea offer: The David de Gea saga rumbles on. This time, the Mirror are reporting that Manchester United are so desperate to cling on to the keeper for one more season that they've told Real Madrid they can sign him for free on a Bosman next summer - or cough up £35m now.

Paper Round's view: Cunning plan. Real are currently only offering a piffling £20m. They could easily find that extra £15m if they wanted, but they won't like being held to ransom like that - and even though they want de Gea, they'll still want him in a year, and he'll still want to go there.

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Higuain going nowhere, say Napoli: Well, say the Daily Mail. They reckon that there's a £67m release clause in striker Gonzalo Higuain's contract - and they're hoping that'll be enough to put off interested parties including Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Milan.

Paper Round's view: It's a lot of money, obviously, but if Higuain wants to leave that might affect the price Napoli are willing to accept. Any club who can offer him Champions League football may be a lure.

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Villa ready for Begovic bid: Aston Villa are seemingly preparing themselves for Brad Guzan moving on and Shay Given's retirement, pinpointing Asmir Begovic as a potential replacement. That's according to the Daily Star, anyway.

Paper Round's view: Tim Sherwood called on young keeper Jed Steer in place of Guzan for the last few weeks of the season, and Given's swansong was surely the FA Cup Final - new plans seem a sensible idea.

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Arsenal set to sign young Chelsea midfielder: Not content with snapping up Petr Cech, who's about to take his medical, the Express reports Arsenal fancy the look of 18-year-old midfielder Charly Musonda. Arsene Wenger has been keeping tabs on him for a long time, and is now prepared to offer £8.5m for him.

Paper Round's view: The Express point out that Jose Mourinho isn't keen on losing another player to Arsenal this summer, and is only prepared to loan Musonda out. So that's a no, then.

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