Paper Round: Manchester United want Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez at Old Trafford

Manchester United are not content with signing just Alexis Sanchez - they also want to sign his Arsenal colleague Mesut Ozil. United are in the running to sign Sanchez in the winter transfer window as the 29-year-old Chile international is desperate to leave Arsenal, but they are also keen to sign Ozil. The 29-year-old German international will be free in the summer as his contract is due to expire.

Paper Round's view: Jose Mourinho has never been a fan of Arsene Wenger, and signing both players would be a huge blow to his opponent. Arsenal would lose both their best players on the cheap, forcing them to spend big for replacements, while United would get two of the most talented attacking players in the league, both of whom have already adjusted to the rigours of English footbal.

Manchester United might want to sign Sanchez, but they are not willing to wait forever to get their man. They have told Sanchez to make up his mind over the proposed move this week. United are in need of a striker to support Romelu Lukaku and replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, they fear they are being used by Sanchez's agent to elicit a higher bid from Manchester City and so have given the striker a deadline to make up his mind.

Paper Round's view: With Sanchez desperate to leave Arsenal it makes sense to ramp up the pressure, as the longer United leave it the more likely he becomes to join City, at which point they would have six months to settle him into a side that is already close to certain to win the Premier League. If they miss out on him, they can focus their attention on bringing in other players, perhaps accelerating a move for Ozil.

Stoke City have offered Martin O'Neill the chance to return to the Premier League. O'Neill had been expected to extend his contract with the Republic of Ireland after Keane had persuaded him to stay on, however a return to top flight management might tempt the pair of them to come to England. The only concern is that Stoke may offer a short-term deal, which could be too risky to commit to.

Paper Round's view: Keane and O'Neill have performed admiraby for the Irish side. They have made them a team that expects to challenge for qualification, but it is up to the pair to decide if they can bring the national side on and replace some of their ageing squad members. A change of scenery to Stoke, who often give their managers plenty of money to work with, might be an appealling switch.

Zinedine Zidane is comfortable at Real Madrid and does not consider his job to be under threat. Zidane expects to see out the rest of the season as manager at the Bernabeu, and then will consider to see out the remainder of his contract. He may yet walk away, but has no intention of doing so before the season is over. Zidane's only other ambition in management is to take charge of the French national side.

Paper Round's view: Zidane is fortunate in that he did so exceptionally well in his first two seasons at Real Madrid that he can be secure in the knowledge that removing him isn't yet a serious option. Real are not too far from Barcelona to eventually catch them this season should they stumble, and he will also have funds to overhaul the squad should he choose to stay on for another year. He is helped that there is no serious replacement available right now.