Paper Round: Chelsea will pay 'any price' for Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola

Chelsea want Pep Guardiola so badly that they will tell the manager to name his price, according to The Sun. The Blues would like Guardiola to take over in the summer, when his contract with Bayern Munich runs out. In the meantime, they will appoint a caretaker to replace Jose Mourinho. Chelsea will have competition, though. Manchester City are willing to pay Guardiola £84 million in a four-year contract, while he has always fancied Manchester United.

Paper Round's view - Guardiola is going to be the biggest name on the market this summer, player or manager. He's talked about wanting to take his chances in England so it's no surprise that Chelsea, City and United are all interested, to varying degrees. Man City have been planning to hire him for year, while Chelsea will undoubtedly make an equally aggressive approach if Jose Mourinho doesn't turn things around. The wildcard is Manchester United because who knows what they are going to do.

Juande Ramos could be the next Chelsea manager. The Times claim that the Blues are considering Ramos to be their caretaker. Roman Abramovich reportedly fired Mourinho amid concerns that his relationships with the players are too damaged for him to succeed. Ramos wouldn't be considered for the job on a permanent basis, but could take them through the remainder of the season.

Paper Round's view - Chelsea don't really have great choices for caretaker. Ramos hasn't been a good manager in years, while Guus Hiddink is in the same boat. Realistically, it doesn't matter much, though. Chelsea aren't making the top four and they're not winning the Champions League. The only goal they have left is to avoid relegation and that shouldn't be an issue so a good manager wouldn't be especially necessary. Making the players happy again is the only priority.

Swansea City and Marcelo Bielsa are still in talks, per The Mirror. It looked like the deal would fall apart because of Bielsa's financial demands, but the two sides are still talking for the Argentinian to take over as the Swans' next manager. Huw Jenkins went to South America to talk with Bielsa and despite the hiccup, believes a deal can still be done so they will continue negotiating.

Paper Round's view - Swansea aren't an especially rich club and they own Monk £3m as part of their separation agreement so it's not as if they can just give Bielsa whatever he's demanding. It's still unclear how much the Argentinian wants and whether it's reasonable, but he's a relatively high profile manager who will have other clubs interested in him so he's in a position to demand big wages. Swansea knew that going in, though, so they had to be prepared for a tough negotiation and Bielsa asking for a lot of money.

Bojan Krkic is in demand. The Sun report that Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea are all preparing bids for Bojan. The striker is valued at £15m and all three clubs are willing to meet the price. Bojan is happy at Stoke and doesn't want to leave the club, but if a team in Champions League contention comes in for him then he'd have to consider a move.

Paper Round's view - Bojan is a terrific player and while he was sidelined late last season with a serious injury, he looks completely fit now. It's no surprise that clubs are coming calling for him now, but Stoke will be hesitant to sell in the middle of the season. They may value him at £15m, but would be unwilling to sell him for that price in January and will wait until the summer if the demand is really there.

Michy Batshuayi won't be joining Spurs in January. The Mirror understand that the striker does not want to leave Marseille in January because he wants to continue playing regularly and stay in contention for a place in the Belgium team for the Euros. Tottenham have kept a close eye on Batshuayi, but he's going to stay put and Spurs will have to put off a move until the summer.

Paper Round's view - Batshuayi is a talented player and would be an ideal signing for Spurs. He'd be a perfect fit, young and capable of playing up top with Harry Kane, spelling Kane or even slotting in on the wing. Signing him won't be easy, though, because the price will be high and other clubs will certainly join the race for him. Batshuayi wanting to stay at Marseille so he can make the Euros makes perfect sense, but it would be interesting to see Spurs try to sign him in January and loan him back to Marseille for the rest of the season.

Joel Matip could be a Liverpool player come the summer. The Mail believe that Jurgen Klopp would like to sign the defender and will begin talks for a pre-contract in January. Matip's contract with Schalke expires in the summer so he can begin talking to other clubs next month. Liverpool aren't going to make additions in January so they will begin making plans for the summer immediately.

Paper Round's view - Matip is a decent defender, but hardly one that is going to turn around the Liverpool defence. He'd be coming on a free, which makes him perfectly good business for depth at the back if his wages are reasonable, but there's no word on how much he wants to be paid so we'll see if Matip would be a smart signing. Klopp going to the Bundesliga for signings is probably going to be a theme.