Paper Round: Manchester City prepare record bid for Dele Alli

Manchester City are prepared to beat the £89 million paid by Manchester United for Paul Pogba, in order to sign Spurs midfielder Dele Alli. The Sunday Express says that Alli, 20, is one of Pep Guardiola's key targets as he prepares to overhaul his struggling Manchester City squad. However, City aren't the only club interested in prising Alli from Spurs, and they will face competition from Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. Tottenham currently do not want to sell at any price.

Paper Round's view: Alli has the technical ability that is almost unseen in an English player, and he is currently Spurs' outstanding star. If Manchester City want to improve, and get a player who could be with them for the next decade, Alli would be the obvious choice. He would be a superior option to David Silva, who has become stale at the Etihad. Alli also scores more than Kevin De Bruyne, is more intelligent than Raheem Sterling, and would need less time to adapt than Leroy Sane.

In the Mail on Sunday, they carry quotes from Arsene Wenger denying yesterday's biggest story, that he is winding down his time at the Emirates. The Frenchman oversaw a 2-0 win against Hull on Saturday, as he sat out the last game of his touchline ban. After the game he said: "I appreciate that you want me to rest, but I'm not ready for that." He said of his time with Ian Wright that, "I didn't give any indication about my future. We had a little dinner before but not the two of us."

Paper Round's view: Just like Alex Ferguson, who controlled almost everything at Manchester United after two decades, it is hard to believe that Wenger will let us know of his decision to step down before he decides it is time to let the public know. He might be telling the truth that he's going to stay on at Arsenal for at least another season, but even if he was going to leave, he would be unlikely to tell anyone earlier than a few days before it became official.

David de Gea is set for a new contract at Manchester United as they prepare to do battle once again with Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho is not expecting any underhand moves from his former club, but United are prepared to offer De Gea parity with Wayne Rooney, Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, taking him to a weekly wage of around £300,000. For Real Madrid, Hugo Lloris and Thibaut Courtois are also in contention.

Paper Round's view: David de Gea has once again been at the heart of United's season, keeping them in games with moments of brilliance, even if he has been called on less often as Jose Mourinho has improved the side. De Gea will, ultimately, get the move to Real if he decides that is what he wants, and it will probably come down to whether he is prepared to miss yet another season of Champions League football.

Elliot Daly was the key man for England in their second Six Nations match of the tournament, this time against Wales. Wales were holding on for victory with five minutes to go, when Daly powered in at the death to give England hopes of back-to-back Grand Slams. Daly said: "Not much was going through my mind when I got the ball. I just tried to pin my ears back and go for the corner and luckily, I snuck in." Coach Eddie Jones was relieved: "We have used up all our get out of jail cards and we don’t want to be in that position again."

Paper Round's view: England improved after last week's wan performance against France, but they still struggled to impose themselves on a Wales side who are far from at their best. Eddie Jones has had some effect, it seems, as England continued to fight until the last minute, and a win felt inevitable even as they trailed. They only have Ireland left to face who should pose a problem.