Paper Round: Liverpool prepare £75m summer spree

Liverpool hopeful of triple Serie A swoop: The Daily Express have the big story of the day, claiming Premier League side Liverpool will spend as much as £75 million on three targets this summer, all of whom currently ply their trade in Italy. Roma duo Radja Nainggolan and Miralem Pjanic plus Lazio forward Keita Balde Diao are their reported targets.

Paper Round’s view: Let’s assume this does happen for a second, because if it does things will be very interesting at Anfield next season in the wake of Steven Gerrard’s departure - and, we'd assume, the conclusion of the failed Mario Balotelli experiment. Between those three and the official Liverpool debut of Divock Origi, Brendan Rodgers would have a complete new look about his side in an attempt to fill the hole Gerrard leaves, as well as fixing the post-Luis Suarez attacking problem. Of course such an outlay would spell doom if it’s not an instant success, so it’s a huge risk - but an exciting one.

Atletico Madrid target Mata and Cazorla: Atletico Madrid are lining up their next wave of marquee signings for next season, and according to The Sun their sights are set on Manchester United’s Juan Mata, who played in La Liga for Valencia way back when. Spanish radio station Cadena Cope, meanwhile, suggested yesterday that they were hopeful of a move for Arsenal’s Santi Cazorla.

Paper Round’s view: With Real Madrid and Barcelona looking odds-on to returning to their duopoly after Atleti’s surprise title win last term, it’s no surprise Diego Simeone wants established top-level players to join his crusade. The big concern here is that we cannot be sure either one of these two gentlemen would be consistent enough or willing to leave everything out there on the pitch, as Simeone expects from his men. Perhaps Atletico would be better off continuing their more common process of purchasing players ‘on the up’ in the footballing world.

Lassana Diarra hopeful of West Ham move: Former Real Madrid star Lassana Diarra, who has played in London before with Chelsea and Arsenal, is still keen on heading to West Ham despite a January move being blocked by FIFA. The Daily Mirror claim the transfer could be revived in the summer.

Paper Round’s view: Diarra’s problems with authority at Lokomotiv Moscow – not to mention his fall from grace after being at one point considered ‘the next Claude Makelele’ – suggest such a deal would be far too risky for a side like West Ham, who are making great progress at present. Surely trying to land Alex Song on a permanent basis would be a better strategy? Song is a defensive midfielder with temperament issues who at least has a much better upside than Diarra.