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Paper Round: Manchester City abandon Ilkay Gundogan move, Arsene Wenger wants N'Golo Kante

Alexander Netherton

Published 07/05/2016 at 08:46 GMT

Ilkay Gundogan's latest injury may have cost him a move to Manchester City, while Arsene Wenger could be eyeing up Leicester City's N'Golo Kante.

Mit Ilkay Gündogan kippte das Spiel zugunsten des BVB

Image credit: AFP

Manchester City may pass on Ilkay Gundogan after knee injury

The Sun claim that Ilkay Gundogan may miss out on what seemed a certain transfer to Manchester City, due to a recent injury. Gundogan dislocated his knee cap during Borussia Dortmund training, and will now miss Euro 2016. This is not Gundogan's first serious injury - he was out for many months with a back problem - and CIty may now think the proposed £30 million fee is too high.
Paper Round's view: Manchester City are likely to overhaul most of their first team in the summer, with none of the players this season making a compelling case to be retained. Given that, Pep Guardiola could approach Gundogan's signing in two ways. One, he's buying so many new players that he can afford to wait for Gundogan to work on his fitness as a City player, or two, that with so much work to be done he can't take the risk of bringing in a half-fit central midfielder.

Arsene Wenger keen on N'Golo Kante

In the Mirror, there's a traditional story. Arsenal go to a title-winning side and buy one of their players at a rate of one a year. The only surprise this season is that Leicester City are the title-winning side. He was notably non-commital when he was asked if he'd already made contact with Leicester and Kante over a transfer, saying: "I cannot tell you anything now. He is under contract with Leicester. I am sure if Leicester want to sell him, they will find some buyers.”
Paper Round's view: Kante has been one of the best players in the league this season, but there are a couple of things to consider. The first is whether he can continue his incredible lung-busting activities away from Leicester City, in a team that suffers as many injuries as Arsenal. From Arsenal's point of view, they must consider whether a pedigree of lower-league French football plus a top tier league medal makes for sustainable excellence - just look at how that worked with Olivier Giroud.

Courtois priced at £65 million ahead of Real Madrid move

Yesterday Euro Paper had a story that Thibaut Courtois could leave Chelsea after falling out with his goalkeeping coach, and now the Daily Mail claim that Real Madrid are interested, with Chelsea willing to accept an offer of £65 million for the Belgian. Although £65 million is the sum asked for at th moment, the story suggests that Chelsea will eventually accept a lower figure.
Paper Round's view: After such a miserable season, it is little wonder that Courtois would like to leave, to a far superior city to London in Madrid, and it is little surprise that Chelsea would countenance earning good money for a player who is unhappy. Courtois is clearly a rare talent, but for £65 million it could help fund new manager Antonio Conte's summer transfer plans. Any move would rule out Real Madrid's interest in David de Gea though, something that still seems unlikely to have gone away.

One in, one out for Arsenal as Sanchez loses patience

The Daily Telegraph go with an exclusive that after being substituted at Norwich, Alexis Sanchez stormed out of the stadium, leaving the relationship between he and Wenger strained. Sanchez has riled some teammates by questioning their attitude, and the Telegraph have said both Bayern Munich and Manchester City could make a move, even if it would be a difficult transfer to pull off.
Paper Round's view: The chances of Sanchez leaving are slim. He would have to agitate for a move away, and it doesn't seem that he's so frustrated that he could consider making a transfer request. However, that resolve could be tested if Guardiola decided he wanted to work with him at City, or if he was offered the chance of guaranteed league trophies at Bayern Munich.
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