Paper Round: Manchester United target Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann and Danny Rose transfers

There's a Manchester United theme to the day's biggest stories, with the most compelling in The Sun insisting that the Old Trafford club aren't just targeting Gareth Bale of Real Madrid, but his rival across the city, Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann. In order to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and strengthen the wings, Ed Woodward is planning to spend £136m to secure the signings of both players. The Sun believes that United and Atletico held talks during the last international break to restart the transfer process.

Paper Round's view: Manchester United are clearly well behind Manchester City this season, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan has failed to impress as a playmaker. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic likely in his last season at Old Trafford, another striker is needed, too. However, there is only so far that United can go by spending only on their forward line, as Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof demonstrated last night.

United are also planning on signing Spurs defender Danny Rose this winter. Luke Shaw has failed to feature in any meaningful way for United, and so they have moved their attention to Rose, 27, who could be available for £40m. Shaw might also be offered in part-exchange to Mauricio Pochettino and Daniel Levy to get rid of a player who has praised Pochettino recently.

Paper Round's view: A swap with Shaw would provide a solution for both clubs. Pochettino and Shaw would get to work with one another again, possibly benefiting England before the World Cup as well as Spurs. Spurs would also make a healthy profit on Danny Rose, and Mourinho would get one of the defenders that he had been keen on over the summer. Woodward has the chance to pull off a transfer to everyone's satisfaction.

However, the relationship between Spurs and United may once again be strained by the potential for the London club to block any move from United for Bale. According to The Sunday Express, Spurs have a clause – active until 2019 – which gives Spurs the chance to match any offer from a Premier League side for the 28-year-old Welshman. Chelsea are also interested in Bale, and are considered more realistic rivals for him.

Paper Round's view: It seems unlikely that Levy would depart his usual transfer style of buying an older player with a history of injury problems, but you shouldn't rule out the possibility that he may indulge Pochettino to kick the side on in Europe and domestically. Similarly, with both Spurs and Chelsea, it should not be discounted that Bale may prefer a return to London rather than move from Madrid to the north of England.

The Sunday Star report that Mourinho may yet stay at Old Trafford beyond his current three-year deal. They believe Manchester United can unilaterally extend the contract with their manager by an additional 12 months, using the same option that clubs generally keep for their players. However, with Paris Saint-Germain interested in Mourinho, they may invoke the clause to ward off any interest in their man.

Paper Round's view: The back and forth between United and Mourinho over any new contract is probably less to do with PSG being a serious option for the Portuguese manager, and more a bout of grandstanding as both parties attempt to get their best possible deal. Mourinho only wanted two more jobs before retiring – United, and the Portugal national team. It is unlikely, therefore, that PSG will be able to prise him away for the foreseeable future.