Manchester United block Jesse Lingard move, Arsenal fail with Deadline Day striker pursuits - Paper Round

Jesse Lingard will remain at Manchester United for the rest of the season after the club’s chiefs rejected Newcastle’s advances, The Sun reports. Lingard faces months on the fringes of United’s first team and will not leave until the summer, when his contract at Old Trafford runs out. Newcastle proposed a loan deal of £3m, plus £4m if they stayed up, but Manchester United wanted a straight £10m given no permanent offer was made.

Paper Round’s view: There are few favours made in the Premier League, but you’d have thought a club of Manchester United’s stature could have helped out an academy graduate who only returned to Old Trafford with the promise of reigniting his career at a team he loves. That wasn’t to be, and now Lingard will be reduced to cameo appearances for the next few months – not what he wanted with the World Cup at the end of 2022, although at least he has some time next season to impress before the tournament in Qatar.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has left Arsenal for Barcelona on a free transfer, but the Gunners were unable to sign a potential replacement earlier in the day, the Express reports. Arsenal wanted to sign Espanyol striker Raul de Tomas on Deadline Day, but the Spanish club’s general manager Jose Maria Duran put a stop to that move taking place, insisting the 27-year-old was not for sale.

There was also a report in the Mirror, picking up on news in Spain, that Alvaro Morata was not interested in a move to Arsenal. The striker is currently on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid but is likely to drop in the pecking order following Dusan Vlahovic’s arrival. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta reportedly asked assistant Miguel Molina to phone Morata, but it came to nothing.

Paper Round’s view: The big test now will be how Arsenal close out the season with just Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as recognised strikers, proper No 9's. Maybe Mikel Arteta will revert to some of that ‘false’ stuff his old pal Pep Guardiola likes, but it’s hardly the time for experiments with a top-four place on the line. Time will tell how costly losing Aubameyang will be.

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Erling Haaland travelled to Monaco to discuss his future with agent Mino Raiola, who is currently recovering in hospital following surgery, The Sun reports. The Borussia Dortmund striker is wanted by several European giants, among them Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City, and with a £65m buy-out clause there is a big decision awaiting the Norwegian and his agent.

Paper Round’s view: Haaland would do well to put us all out of our misery and conclude this saga soon, but if Raiola is still recovering then it may be a while, particularly as the agent will want to work hard on getting the best deal possible.