Paper Round: United's £54m Saul bid, Mourinho wants £60m Willian reunion

The Daily Mail are reporting Manchester United have ramped up their campaigns in signing Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez and Roma defender Kostas Manolas. After turning heads with strong Champions League performances, United are set to make a bid of around £54 million for one of the hottest prospects in Spain, as Saul's release clause increased from £34m to £54m thanks to a new deal he signed. As for Manolas, United are not the only Premier League club to have him on their radar. Chelsea are also interested in central defender who's believed to be worth around £30 million.

Paper Round's view: Usually attacking and wide midfielders don't establish defensive capabilities until later in their careers when they learn a bit more about their position and themselves as a player, but Saul is already quite complete in that regard. Despite the steep fee, he's worth the gamble. As for Manolas, the problem for United will be competition. If Roma get a sniff they can start a bidding war between a few elite clubs, that £30 million fee will skyrocket.

New Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho would be willing to pay a whopping £60 million to bring Willian to Old Trafford, according to the Sun. Willian was Chelsea's player of the season and was brought to the club from Anzhi Makhachkala for £30 million by Mourinho when he first returned to London. The report says that Mourinho would have to double that asking price to get him to move, with the 27 year old keen on working with his former boss.

Paper Round's view: Willian had a great season and arguably would be on the bench in any Premier League team of the season. However, a fee of £60 million is extraordinary for someone who hasn't consistently hit world class heights. Mourinho may rate his former investment highly, but the Old Trafford boardroom won't let him spend anywhere near that much on such a transaction.

The Gunners will be forced to shell out £38 million for the services of Juventus' Alvaro Morata, as player rights holder Real Madrid look to cash in according to the Sun. The report says Madrid are reading to sell to Arsenal, but want their required fee for his signature. Madrid reportedly want to get Chelsea and Manchester City interested, so the asking price would climb even higher as Madrid have told Juventus they will invoke the £24 million buy-back clause for the forward.

Paper Round's view: As it stands and if Morata goes for that figure, Madrid have flipped a profit of £14 million. Considering they need to bankroll their ever rotating cast of Galacticos, expect Madrid to drag this one out over summer until they can kick start a bidding war. It's hard to see Wenger staying at the table for long if other elite clubs put their chips in, so expect Arsenal to want this deal done as quickly as possible.

Leicester City are bracing for N'Golo Kante's exit, so Claudio Ranieri has targeted Nampalys Mendy from Nice according to the Mirror. Leicester bid on Mendy last summer, a fee of £8 million which was rejected at the time before they signed Kante. It's believed that this tim around Leicester have upped their bid to £12 million, as West Ham, Southampton and Sunderland all have an eye on the French midfielder.

Paper Round's view: The 23 year old midfielder had a spell at AS Monaco, before leaving for Nice and playing a large part in their strong Ligue 1 season. Doubt he'll ever be as prolific as Kante, but reportedly he's as close as Leicester can get to matching that type of ranging box to box midfielder.