Paper Round: Manchester City to break transfer record with £60m Kevin De Bruyne bid

City to spend £60m on De Bruyne - Manchester City are ready to break the British transfer record to sign Kevin De Bruyne. The Mirror understands that the Citizens are prepared to bid £60 million for the midfielder, who has told Wolfsburg that he wants to leave. City will start with a £40m bid, but are ready to go £20m higher and break the record with currently stands at £59.7m - the amount Manchester United paid for Angel Di Maria.

Paper Round's view - Manchester City got Raheem Sterling, but they have a lot of work left to do in the centre of their midfield. They're short on numbers, quality and youth. De Bruyne helps on all three fronts and is an excellent player. Is he worth £60m? Probably not, but City can afford it and it might take something ludicrous to convince Wolfsburg to sell the player who just earned them a Champions League spot.

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Barcelona will let Pedro leave - Manchester United are still interested in Pedro and if they pay his £22m release clause, The Telegraph claims Barcelona won't try to convince him to stay. Pedro wants to play regularly, which means leaving Barcelona, and United would give him that opportunity.

Paper Round's view - Barcelona obviously can't stop Pedro from leaving if his release clause is met, and considering that they agreed that new clause when handing him a new deal in June they are only too well aware of what could happen. Barcelona know he wants out, will respect that - and there's no shame in losing a second choice player to United so it's wise for them to make things simple.

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Szczesny will join Roma on loan - Wojciech Szczesny will spend the season on loan at Roma, according to The Mail. Roma want to sign Szczesny permanently, but neither he nor Arsenal wanted that, but the Gunners have agreed to let him go on loan. The only thing holding up the deal now is the loan fee, but it's expected to come in at £250,000.

Paper Round's view - Szczesny is going to be third choice at Arsenal this season so it would be silly for him to stay there. Roma would be a great place for him to land and somewhere he can play at a very high level. That benefits both he and Arsenal, because either they'll want to bring him back and compete with Cech after a great season or they'll be able to sell him for more money.

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Middlesbrough might set record - Middlesbrough are ready to break the record for the price paid for a Championship player. The Sun believes that Boro are prepared to offer Blackburn Rovers £14m for Jordan Rhodes. Blackburn value Rhodes at £12m and they want it all guaranteed. Boro are hoping that by outstripping the valuation, they can only guarantee £9m of the money, with the rest contingent on promotion and staying in the top flight.

Paper Round's view - Rhodes is a terrific player who will improve Middlesbrough's chances of making it to the Premier League. But he also helps Blackburn's chances too. An extra potential £2m than Blackburn's valuation probably doesn't make up for not guaranteeing £5m of the deal, but Blackburn are probably too ambitious if they think they can get £12m, all guaranteed.

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Liverpool eyeing Digne - Liverpool are watching Lucas Digne and may make a move for the Paris Saint-Germain defender, according to The Mail. The Reds completed the signing of Christian Benteke, wrapping up their work up top, but they would like to strengthen their defence and think Digne can do that. It's unclear whether they'll take Digne on loan or buy him outright, though.

Paper Round's view - Digne is a bright young defender who would be a nice addition to any club in Europe. That he may be potentially available is odd because PSG have no real reason to sell, but the Reds would be wise to jump at it. A loan would not make sense, but if they can somehow pry him fro PSG outright then it'd be a great bit of business.