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Paper Round: Man United confident of landing £50m left-back as Raheem Sterling stalls contract talks

Michael Hincks

Updated 05/12/2017 at 07:49 GMT

While Manchester United are confident of signing Danny Rose from Tottenham, Raheem Sterling has stalled contract talks at Manchester City – but for a very good reason. It’s Tuesday’s Paper Round.

Manchester United's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho gestures as he leaves after the UEFA Champions League Group A football match between Manchester United and Benfica at Old Trafford in Manchester, north west England on October 31, 2017. Manchester Unite

Image credit: Getty Images

Man Utd confident of landing Rose

Manchester United are confident they will sign Tottenham left-back Danny Rose for £50m in the January or summer transfer window, the Daily Mail reports. Rose continues to be linked with a move away from Spurs, who were reluctant to sell the England international last summer having already lost Kyle Walker to Manchester City.
Paper Round’s view: There’s an air of inevitably about this move, but it’s difficult to see any deal for Rose materialising in January given that he will be cup-tied in the Champions League. However, if United feel as though they need to beat the competition, and Rose feels like his chances of starting for England at the World Cup depend on it, then there remains a slight chance he’ll be heading north in a month’s time.
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Sterling stalls contract talks

Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling has put contract talks on hold until after England’s World Cup campaign, according to the Mirror. The 22-year-old has been in sterling form this season, and wants to focus on City’s Premier League campaign, and the Three Lions’ World Cup bid, before looking to pen a new deal. After all, he still has two years left on his £180,000-a-week contract.
Paper Round’s view: It all makes sense. Don’t rock the boat when it doesn’t need to be. With plenty of time left on his contract, there should be no fear from City’s side that he would want to run it down, which seems very unlikely given how he is flourishing under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.
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Juve to make move for Can

Juventus will look to make a move for Liverpool midfielder Emre Can in January, according to the Mirror, rather than face an ‘auction’ for the German’s services in the summer. Can appears to be letting his contract run down at Anfield, and has already addressed the Juve link, claiming to be flattered that the Serie A champions have shown an interest.
Paper Round’s view: He’s going, isn’t he? You just get that impression. All this means he’ll probably sign a Liverpool deal tomorrow, but in truth, with the ability to sign a pre-contract with another European club just around the corner, it feels as though Can is a man on the move. It’s awfully late to finally commit, and though he has the quality to thrive at Liverpool, it doesn’t say much if it has taken him this long to put pen to paper.
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Shot to the Hart

Following Adrian’s impressive display in West Ham's 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on the weekend, David Moyes will continue to pick the goalkeeper ahead of Joe Hart, the Sun reports. That all means Hart’s hopes of heading to the World Cup as England’s No 1 choice hang by a thread, and he will have to force his way back into the reckoning at the Hammers before being considered Gareth Southgate’s first choice.
Paper Round’s view: It’s not all Hart’s fault that West Ham are faltering, but it hardly helped his cause when Adrian put in a strong showing at the Etihad. Moyes could well be doing all England fans a favour, for it’s clear Hart should be behind Jordan Pickford and Jack Butland – to name but two – in the pecking order.
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