Paper Round: Manchester United plan for David de Gea exit

Manchester United could finally let David de Gea join Real Madrid - but things won't be straghtforward. The 26-year-old Spanish international goalkeeper still wants to return to Spain, but has a contract that runs until 2019, and he is still not willing to force a move from the club. However, United would countenance a sale if they can sign 18-year-old Gianluigi Donnarumma, which is a possibility if AC Milan don't qualify for the Champions League.

Paper Round's view: Manchester United would do well to sign Donnarumma. He uses their favourite agent, Mino Raiola, so a transfer should be relatively easy to orchestrate. Quite why they would let De Gea go makes no sense, as keeping him poses no risk. Further to that, it seems an outlandish plan to have made, with one odd variable - how would AC Milan fail to qualify for the Champions League, when they have spent so much money on strengthening their squad.

Liverpool are running out of patience with Barcelona after their third bid for Philippe Coutinho was much less generous than the reported headline figure. The guaranteed sum is £80m, which is being offered over five years. The remaining £39m depends on Coutinho and Barcelona winning multiple trophies over the same season, winning the Champions League, and for Coutinho win the Ballon d'Or. This after receiving £200m for Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.

Paper Round's view: Liverpool have no financial reason to sell, so it is perplexing that Barcelona are happy to fall short so clearly. While another bid will further unsettle Coutinho and perhaps force more disruptive behaviour, FSG have shown that they are more than capapble of withstanding transfer offers - even if they trigger a release clause. Liverpool would probably sell Coutinho if the transfer fee offered was more generous, but Barcelona are only harming themselves with their dithering so far.

In a press conference ahead of Chelsea's clash with Spurs, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte burst into laughter when asked about Diego Costa's claims that his current club were pricing him out of the market. Conte said: “It’s great – I prefer to laugh. Everyone at Chelsea knows what happened last season with Diego. This interview is funny. I’m not interested in continuing with this issue. For me, it is the past.”

Paper Round's view: Conte has finally alighted on the correct strategy for dealing with Costa. On the pitch, Costa is 90% stamps and elbows, and that is only effective for the players who take him seriously, others have found that simply laughing in his face is the best reaction. Now that Costa is again acting up, Conte is trying the same method - laughing is much less dangerous and time consuming than actually treating him seriously.

After what seemed like an age, William Carvalho finally seemed set to play in the Premier League. West Ham are in negotiations for the 25-year-old Portuguese international midfielder but Sporting Lisbon are holding out for as much as possible. According to The Telegraph, " West Ham have offered €32m (£29.1m) for Carvalho plus €5m (£4.55m) in add-ons. Sporting are holding out for €38m (£34.6m) plus €5m in add-ons and despite extensive negotiations have not yet budge."

Paper Round's view: The story says that Slaven Billic considers this the final part of his jigsaw after extensive summer recruitment. While West Ham's owners are often adept at maximising the money they can make with the club, paying up for a player who will have huge resale value if he proves himself in England, is probably worth paying the extra few million that Sporting want.