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Paper Round: Jose Mourinho plans defensive shake-up with Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane linked

Pete Sharland

Published 12/02/2018 at 23:15 GMT

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is planning a defensive shake-up with Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane linked. It's Tuesday's Paper Round.

Jose Mourinho

Image credit: Getty Images

Mourinho wants defensive signings

We start in The Mirror with a report that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wants more defensive signings over the summer after their 1-0 defeat to Newcastle on the weekend. Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo could come back into the side in the short-term but in the summer Harry Maguire and Raphael Varane are both mentioned as possible signings in the piece.
Paper Round's view: The Mourinho and Varane reunion has been in the papers ever since Jose left Real Madrid so don't expect those to go away. Maguire was linked to Manchester City before they signed Aymeric Laporte and his rise should be acknowledged. It's tough to imagine him single-handedly turning around United's defence but with Varane? That could be interesting...

Klopp casts doubt over Mignolet future

Jurgen Klopp has been talking to the media and he has suggested that the situation with his keepers may have changed and Lloris Karius will stay in goal for the match against Porto in the week. This casts more doubt over Simon Mignolet's future with the suggestion being made that he could leave at the end of the season.
Paper Round's view: This is a little ironic given that Mignolet has said in the past that he thought it was a mistake to have a cup keeper and now Mignolet is just a bench keeper. The Belgian has to consider his future now and needs to look to a side that might try and challenge for the top seven in the future.

Terry to wait on Villa future with options abroad

In The Mail it is reported that John Terry will wait until the end of the season to make a decision on his future with Aston Villa. After beating Birmingham on the weekend Villa are currently second in the Championship table but Terry has publicly said that he would never play against Chelsea, which a return to the Premier League could entail. If he decides to leave Terry will have offers from America, China and the Middle East.
Paper Round's view: If Terry can help take Villa up to the Premier League it could give way to one of the more absurd scenes in the Premier League. Imagine if Villa are scheduled to play Chelsea and despite being an ever-present Terry is left out. That might be even more hilarious than his final game at Stamford Bridge when he was taken off in the 26th minute.

Trump misses out on the Open

We end with something a little different. In The Express it is reported that Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course has missed out on the 2021 Open with St Andrews confirmed as the venue. Carnoustie, Portrush and Royal St George's are the next three venues, with an English course scheduled for 2022. It will mean that Turnberry will have been overlooked for longer than any other course in rotation having not hosted since 2009 and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers admitted that it was difficult to host the Open there at the moment.
Paper Round's view: It's going to be fun watching Trump explain this one on Twitter...
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