Paper Round: Zeljko Buvac on brink of Arsenal job as Chelsea weigh up Anthony Martial

Already wanted by both Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea are the latest side to express an interest in Manchester United forward Anthony Martial. Jose Mourinho does not want to let him leave Old Trafford, but would consider a sale for the right price. If Chelsea fall out of the Champions League places at the season’s end, then they may raise cash by selling Eden Hazard and replacing him with the 22-year-old France international, with a mooted £44m within their budget.

Paper Round’s view: Given Martial is 22, extremely talented, and cost around £44m a few years ago, it is hard to see why United would consider selling to a rival - or indeed anyone - for such a low sum. Nevertheless, if Chelsea are looking to replace Hazard, then a young and technically adept wide player like Martial would be ideal, and would preserve his resale value for years to come.

Former Liverpool assistant manager Zeljko Buvac could join Arsenal and be confirmed as Arsene Wenger’s replacement imminently. Liverpool insist that Buvac departed for personal reasons and described his absence as a temporary one, but the suspicion is that he will replace Wenger in the coming days after being Jurgen Klopp’s assistant for 17 years.

Paper Round’s view: The departure from Liverpool, plus the vague reasons that his current club have given, hint at some kind of personal problem rather than the hunt for a new job. Perhaps Buvac is taking some time to take what would be a major decision to leave his longstanding boss. Arsenal would, however, be taking a risk to appoint a manager at a crucial time who has little experience of leading.

Arsenal are reluctant to pay up for their next manager, which may explain why Buvac has emerged as a candidate over the last two days. Wenger earns £8.5m a year at Arsenal, but the club want to cut costs and will only give their new manager £50m to spend in the summer. Luis Enrique, who had been considered favourite for the job, wants £15m a year and would bring with him an expensive entourage of coaches.

Paper Round’s view: Arsenal have the most amount of ready cash out of any club in the whole world. It seems prudent not to overspend on players, or wages, but to miss out on some of the best managerial talent in the world, when looking to replace a legend, seems a mistake. Even Manchester United, replacing David Moyes, gave him £6m a year, and that was several years ago. Cost-cutting outside the Champions League places would surely condemn them to more under-performance.

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly is fearing for his Old Trafford future having been dropped for the last few games. Bailly missed the West Brom game with illness, but has not featured since, and his absence from the squad against Arsenal alarmed some of his colleagues. Bailly has not been told by Jose Mourinho why he has missed the recent games.

Paper Round’s view: Mourinho is notoriously prickly about injured players, famously ignoring his Chelsea captain John Terry in the physio room while discussing his fitness with his doctor. While that might motivate some players to get back into the action, modern players are generally - and not unreasonably - more interested in treating their careers and fitness more cautiously. To lose your best defender over the game changing would be a mistake.