Paper Round: Manchester City near to £75m Riyad Mahrez deal

Riyad Mahrez is expected to join Manchester City. According to The Mail on Sunday, all parties expect a resolution next week, though talks are ongoing. City will have to pay Leicester a fee of around £75m for the Algerian international winger. Leicester still want City's young forward Patrick Roberts, who had been on loan at Celtic, but any negotiations for the player are being held separately to the Mahrez deal.

Paper Round's view: Mahrez is an excellent Premier League performer, someone who has managed to keep up his impressive performance through transfer disappointment, and through Leicester's struggles in the second season following their Premier League success. It's not clear that he will be a regular first-choice pick for Pep Guardiola, but this might be his only chance left to join one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Stephan Lichtsteiner could be the first signing for Arsenal under new manager Unai Emery. The 34-year-old defender is due to leave Juventus when his contract runs out in the summer, meaning he is free to sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of Italy. Emery wants to bring in Lichtsteiner as he can offer experience and leadership to his backline, and can also give Hector Bellerin competition on the right of defence.

Paper Round's view: Lichtsteiner has been a consistent rock at the back for Juventus, at a time that some would consider their most dominant in Italian football history. He has experience of top flight football, and his commitment to winning is something that much of the Arsenal squad either lack in themselves or have rarely seen on display in their time at Arsenal. Given Arsenal's relatively small budget, a free transfer won't hurt the coffers, either.

According to Italian football agent Marco Materazzi, a move for Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic to Manchester United may already have been agreed. One report suggests that with Michael Carrick and Marouane Fellaini leaving the squad, then Fred will be one replacement, and the 23-year-old Serbian international is the next in line. It may depend on Paul Pogba being sold in order for him to arrive at Old Trafford, though.

Paper Round's view: Sacrificing Pogba to sign Milinkovic-Savic is a huge risk, but an understandable one. Pogba has underperformed for a couple of seasons and the relationship with Mourinho seems difficult at best. It might be better to let him go and try something new. However, he remains a player with exceptional talent, and yet more transfer upheaval at Old Trafford will be counter-productive in many respects.

Arsene Wenger is considering a return to Japan now that his time at Arsenal is over. He is expected to be given plenty of options in America and Europe, but one option would be return to the country that he worked in following his exit at Monaco. Vissel Kobe signed Andres Iniesta only last week, and he might consider going back to one of the countries he loved in his earlier career.

Paper Round's view: Wenger has one thing to prove to other people in football - that he can succeed on the European stage. As many options as he will have this summer, he is unlikely to be given the chance to pull off such success. As such, perhaps he will get more satisfaction out of one of the places in his life that was happy. While he is not short of money, he hardly seems motivated by the glamour of European football.