Paper Round: Manchester City agree £50m deal for Fred

Manchester City have agreed a £50m deal for Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred. The 24-year-old Brazilian midfielder is seen as a replacement for Fernandinho, the man he replaced in Ukraine when he went to join City. Manchester United had been interested too, but Fred has a preference to play for Pep Guardiola. The deal was delayed due to Shakhtar's upcoming match against Roma.

Paper Round's view: If Fred is as able and successful as Fernandinho, then City will have got a relative bargain for the price. Guardiola needs a replacement for the reliable Fernandinho in the next season or two, so buying in his successor with time to spare allows him to adjust gradually to the demands of English football. Following Alexis Sanchez's decision to go to Old Trafford, putting one over Jose Mourinho will be an additional benefit.

Liverpool are no longer chasing Monaco winger Thomas Lemar, who is now expected to join Barcelona. Instead they want to sign Bayer Leverkusen's 20-year-old Jamaican international, Leon Bailey. Bailey has 10 goals in 22 games for Bayer this season, but he could cost as much as £100m. The player is demand, pushing up his price: Manchester United, Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea are all scouting the player.

Paper Round's view: If Manchester United and Chelsea want him, then the chances are that Liverpool will not have the financial muscle to compete for Bailey. However, up against Spurs and Arsenal they will fancy their chances to sign him. This puts the race for the Champions League into perspective - without top flight European football, it is increasingly hard to both attract and afford the best young talent in the world.

Liverpool face more competition for another of their targets. Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius have failed to impress between the sticks at Anfield, so Jurgen Klopp has identified Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland as their replacement, with a fee of £40m mentioned. Arsene Wenger is also interested as Petr Cech is 36 this year and has just one year left on his contract at the end of this season. Pinchi, Deportivo's 22-year-old striker, is also a target for Klopp.

Paper Round's view: Pinchi would help fill out Liverpool's attacking line-up, but the easiest improvement would be by upgrading the defence. Virgil van Dijk is merely the beginning, as the goalkeeping position needs to be settled to give confidence to the players ahead of him. Butland has Premier League and international experience, and at 24 years old would represent good value for money for either Arsenal or Liverpool.

Chelsea are not prepared to sack Antonio Conte, and instead want the Italian coach to leave under a mutually agreed deal. Conte has fallen out with the owner because his main transfer targets were not delivered, while the Chelsea hierarchy are displeased with Conte still from the handling of Diego Costa's exit. The club now want Conte to leave at the end of the season.

Paper Round's view: Conte has no reason to resign. He agreed a contract with Chelsea in the summer, and he is therefore entitled to any compensation agreed in the new deal. He is right to wait for Chelsea to sack him. There will be no end of offers for him to return to Italy - something he wants to do - and he is well paid in London. Of course Chelsea want Conte to move on in a way that saves them money, but that is only their problem.