Paper Round: Jose Mourinho will let David De Gea go to seal Toni Kroos deal with Real Madrid

As rumours abound once more as to the future of Manchester United No.1 David de Gea, The Express reports on Thursday that the Spaniard has told friends he is likely to return to the Bernabeu, this summer. According to the report, United boss Jose Mourinho is so desperate to beat rival Pep Guardiola to the signature of Real Madrid midfielder, Toni Kroos, 28, he would even be prepared to throw de Gea into the deal.

Paper Round’s view: De Gea has long been linked with a move back to his former club, and the rumour mill does tend to start ratcheting up around this time of year. That said, this is the kind of stunt that has Mourinho written all over it – a flashy move to get one over a rival. But he’d be sacrificing one of his consistently solid performers to accommodate his ego, on this occasion.

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Italy international Jorginho is said to be set for a move to Old Trafford from Naples, according to a report by The Sun. The 26-year-old defensive midfielder was rumoured to have sent his people to Manchester in January. According to his agent, though he is contracted to the Serie A team for some time, Jorginho fears that he would high on the list of potential sacrifices by the team, should a better option become available.

Paper Round’s view: Mourinho isn’t short of attacking options, obviously whether he can make any of those work for him is another issue, but, we digress. He has been rumoured to be plotting a “defensive shakeup” perhaps with more activity expected in the summer.

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Video Action Replay technology is said to be set for “emergency testing” after some “wonky lines” caused Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata’s goal against Huddersfield to be disallowed. The Sun reveals on Wednesday that new software is to be trialled in Saturday’s match between Brighton and Swansea, with more monitoring planned ahead of this summer’s World Cup.

Paper Round’s view: We’re never really sure if VAR deserves as much stick as it gets – it’s been used successfully in other sports, there’s no reason why it couldn’t work in football, and it might act as a deterrent for some of the less savoury behaviour that routinely goes on when the ref and/or Arsene Wenger is looking elsewhere. That said, clearly the technology actually needs to work.

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