Paper Round: United and Chelsea battle for £170m Neymar

According to the Sunday Times, both Chelsea and Manchester United want to prise Neymar from Barcelona. Neymar is available because of a £170m release clause, and wants to earn £25m after tax. Those figures would not trouble United, and Jose Mourinho has been the keenest in his courtship of the striker, who resents his place as third down the pecking order after Lionel Messi and Luis Saurez.

Paper Round's view: Neymar is a player who, if you can afford him, then you buy him. With such talent at a young age, he would be able to cover up the cracks all over the pitch. United and Chelsea both need a new star player, especially if Chelsea were to lose Eden Hazard in the summer, and he would probably cover the cost of the transfer fee with his commercial importance off the pitch.

Pep Guardiola wants to replace Yaya Toure, who is 34 and set to leave the club in the summer. He has identified William Carvallho of Sporting Lisbon as the man to fill the void, and with Guardiola's brother, Pere, as his agent, it seems as if any deal would be easy to pull off.

Paper Round's view: Carvalho has interested Manchester United, Arsenal and plenty of other clubs over the past few seasons, and his relatively low asking price suggests that some doubts remain over his ability to step up to the Premier League. Usually, if you leave Portugal to do well in the bigger leagues, you do it earlier than if you were 25, and Guardiola has an inconsistent track record in the transfer market.

Arsene Wenger looks more likely to stay than leave Arsenal, but regardless of his future, the club want to appoint a sporting director to oversee future transfers at the Emirates. It is not believed to matter if the manager is next season is Wenger or another man, as the board want to separate first team coaching duties and transfer responsibilities.

Paper Round's view: A sporting director role is only as useful as the man or woman you appoint. Some clubs have done brilliantly by allowing the talent to be secured higher up, as Chelsea do with Michael Emanolo, but the same man has caused problems for managers who disagree with his approach. This may simply serve as a way to make it clear to Wenger that he is not regarded in as high regard anymore.

'Nothing is off the table' according to the Rugby Players' Association, when it comes to negotiations over the proposed Rugby Union schedule. An international month could be moved from June to July, and the end of the season stretched into June, while retaining a September start. This would allow the clubs to have fewer matches that clash with the Six Nations tournament. Players are concerned about the lack of rest, mentally and physically.

Paper Round's views: Every week rugby teams have to chop and change their sides to accommodate the latest injuries. Six Nations tournaments provide rest weekends, but not enough for teams to remain unchanged throughout. There has evidently been an increase in the strength and force of modern rugby players, and in turn there are more injuries from the impact. It seems bizarre to exacerbate a situation that already appears unsustainable.