Paper Round: Manchester United join race to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Add Manchester United to the list of clubs interested in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Mirror report that the Red Devils are set to enter the chase for Borussia Dortmund's forward after Louis van Gaal watched him play on several occasions this season. Aubameyang is currently valued at £42m and has interest from Barcelona, Chelsea and Arsenal, but van Gaal is ready to make a move for him as soon as this January. Dortmund don't want to sell their prized forward, but a giant bid may force them to consider a sale.

Paper Round's view - Borussia Dortmund are a Champions League team and second in the Bundesliga so they're not in a position to just offload players. They'll do what they can to keep Aubameyang, especially since his contract doesn't expire until 2020, but there is a point where the team is better off taking a team's offer and reinvesting it throughout the squad. That probably won't come in January, when they have limited time to find a replacement, but it very well might in the summer and it'd be a shock if several clubs weren't involved in the bidding.

Manchester City have even more money to spend on Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola now. They raised £265 million by selling 13 per cent of City Football Group on Tuesday and The Mirror claim that the majority of that will go towards signing players. This new money is on top of the club's significant funds already in hand, most notably from the Champions League and Premier League TV money. Now they will look to put that money to work.

Paper Round's view - Money was never going to be an issue for Manchester City. They have long wanted Guardiola and would have had no problem making him the highest paid manager in the world - a title he already holds at Bayern Munich, but he certainly would have gotten a raise to join City. Messi making the move to the Etihad is more a matter of Barcelona's willingness to let him go and his desire to try a new club than anything else. Extra money is nice, and it may allow them to supplement the potential signings of Guardiola and Messi, but it wasn't going to be the hurdle to landing the duo.

Barcelona may not have the money to keep Messi and Neymar. The Mail understand that the club find themselves in a terrible financial situation that is unsustainable and may impact their ability to keep their stars. The club's wage bill is 73 per cent of their revenue, which cannot continue, and they do not have a shirt sponsor for next season. Barca want to keep their stars, but with Premier League clubs interested, the Catalans will need a lucrative shirt sponsorship and a sale of the Camp Nou's naming rights to afford them.

Paper Round's view - Messi and Neymar need new contracts if they are going to stick around the Camp Nou and Barca already pay the duo huge wages, while the rest of the team is well-compensated as well. Winning the Champions League triggered bonuses in their contracts, which raised the wage bill, while renovations to the Camp Nou, a B team stadium and basketball arena are all in the works. The expenses just keep going up for the club, and will continue to do so. That means they need to increase revenue, because the Premier League clubs are doing just that and they will make Barcelona's biggest stars very tempting offers.

Liverpool and Simon Mignolet have begun negotiations on a new contract that will keep him the club's starting goalkeeper, according to The Guardian. There had been speculation that Mignolet could be demoted, or that the Reds would buy a new stopper, but manager Jurgen Klopp has come out in support of the Belgian. He said that Mignolet would be their starting goalkeeper for the foreseeable future and now the club is working on a new deal that would see his £60,000-per-week wages rise.

Paper Round's view - Mignolet isn't a brilliant goalkeeper by any means, but there aren't a lot of those around. If the Reds could land an excellent No 1, and not break the bank for him, then by all means they should, but that's unlikely. So in the meantime, they can stick with a decent enough goalkeeper in Mignolet, who has enough quality to lead the team to the top four and maybe even a title challenge if the players in front of him are good enough. If he's going to be their guy, he's going to need a new contract by the end of the season because his current one expires in 2018 and that won't suffice. Liverpool are wise to give it to him.

Lille are hoping to sign Yoan Gouffran in January, insist The Chronicle. Gouffran's role at Newcastle has diminished this season after a summer in which the Magpies tried to sell him, but the player opted to fight for his place in the team. Lille are ready to come for the Frenchman, though. Newcastle would sell him for less than £1m and he would fit Lille's need for experienced players.

Paper Round's view - It's nice that Gouffran wanted to fight for his place at Newcastle, but he's struggling and it's tough to imagine him being a regular for the Magpies. His work rate is commendable, but his play just hasn't been good enough. A return to France could do him some good and allow him to make more of an impact. Newcastle want to make some signings in January so even if he doesn't bring in a lot of money, getting rid of his wages would be helpful.