Paper Round: Manchester City go in for Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester City to make raid for Cristiano Ronaldo: The Sun reports that Manchester City "are ready to make a world-record bid for Cristiano Ronaldo - if he decides to return to England." Though Manchester United have been the club most heavily linked with trying to persuade the Ballon d'Or winner to return to England, the paper quotes City's director of football Txiki Begiristain saying, "I ask [Ronaldo's agent] Jorge [Mendes] about situations every day. I can ask him every day about Cristiano." The quotes come from a biography of Mendes which has just been published - and which also reveals that Begiristain tried, when working at Barcelona, to sign Ronaldo before United got the Portuguese star. The paper comes to the conclusion that if Ronaldo chooses to leave Spain it will " trigger a bank-busting war between the Manchester clubs".

Paper Round's view: Oh please. Spare us. Ronaldo really isn't going anywhere until his powers are so much on the wane that he would no longer be worth the astronomical money he'd command.

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Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United on red alert for Marco Reus: German tabloid Bild reports that Bayern Munich have ended their interest in Borussia Dortmund's star player Marco Reus, clearing the way for a move to a Premier League club.

Paper Round says: Reus has still yet to give any indication that he wishes to move. Of course, a Champions League exit and a relegation (Dortmund are 17th of 18 teams in the Bundesliga right now) might change his mind. Then again, why would anyone want to sign the supposed key man of a team that's just had a disastrous season?

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Manchester United admit David De Gea could be off soon: The Manchester Evening News and Daily Mail make a lot of Louis van Gaal's admission that "in football, everything is possible", claiming that it's an admission that Real Madrid might indeed sign the United goalkeeper De Gea. Van Gaal added that "we want to keep him", with 17 months left on his contract, the paper warns, the exit may be out of United's hands before too long.

Paper Round's view: Now, Van Gaal was making a standard philosophical point about the futility of predicting the future in the game, not admitting that he's ready to sell. But that said, the De Gea move has a ring of truth about it - and despite all the protestations to the contrary, the signing of Victor Valdes seems like a very solid plan B in case De Gea forces his way out.

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Roma to sign Roberto Soldado: The Evening Standard claims that Tottenham will send misfiring Spanish striker Roberto Soldado out on loan to Serie A title hopefuls Roma. Roma might also consider Emmanuel Adebayor as they aim to replace Mattia Destro.

Paper Round's view: Makes sense to us. Soldado has lost all confidence since moving to Spurs, and the London club have found goals through other sources so can afford to let him go. A stint overseas could be a real tonic - and help Tottenham at least ensure they get their money back if they sell him on in the summer.

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Manchester City eye Pepe move: The English champions want to sign Pepe from Real Madrid in the summer, according to the Daily Express. The paper claims that Pepe is willing to leave before the end of his contract - which is up in the summer of 2016.

Paper Round's view: City continue with the policy of building a squad which make the cast of Dad's Army look young and sprightly. And Pepe? Maybe they're worried that the club's disciplinary record looks too good, and they're trying to create a bad-boys-of-football image.

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