Football news - Paper Round: Chelsea identify Mauro Icardi as Alvaro Morata replacement

Chelsea may face too big a challenge to replace Alvaro Morata in the January transfer window, despite losing faith in the Spanish international to turn around his career at Stamford Bridge. Mauro Icardi of Inter Milan and Genoa’s Krzysztof Piatek. However, Icardi would only be prepared to leave for Real Madrid and would cost close to £100 million, while Piatek will not be sold having only joined this summer.

Paper Round’s view: Clubs should have a list of targets ready to go at any time, but a new manager being put in place might have disrupted things at Chelsea. Additionally, starting the season with Morata, we might have assumed that Sarri and the club were willing to work with Morata in the long term, only to change their minds after seeing just how much he has struggled so far this season.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is enjoying another excellent season, and has now been linked with a move away from the club. Togo coach Claude Le Roy has speculated that Mane would be a huge success at whichever club he moved to, including Manchester United. Le Roy said: "He's a great player. He'd have his place at Manchester United, at Barcelona, or at Real Madrid.”

Paper Round’s view: Manchester United would not be able to sign Sane for two reasons. One, it would not be politically viable to make the journey from one club to another - a club simply would not allow their player to move. Two, Sane has no reason to join a side which is currently struggling. However, he could be just the player that Real Madrid need now they struggle in front of goal without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Julen Lopetegui doubled his salary of three million euros when he moved from the Spanish national side to Real Madrid. His contract also specifies that should he be sacked in the near future, he is entitled to at least 18 million euros, which is a sign of how few options were on the table for Florentino Perez when Zinedine Zidane decided to depart the club.

Paper Round’s view: 18 million euros would take a fifth of the transfer fee received from the Cristiano Ronaldo deal at a stroke, and leave Real almost rudderless. Except Antonio Conte, there is nobody who could be brought it without notice, as even Ed Woodward would surely request a payoff if Jose Mourinho was offered the chance to return. Perez will have to act soon, as his popularity depends on it.

Nottingham Forest manager Aitor Karanka could soon be out of a job after struggling in the Championship opening games. Owner Evangelos Marinakis allowed the club to spend £25 million on transfers in the summer transfer window, but they are seven points off the top of the league. Marinakis flew to visit the club to tell everyone involved with Forest that standards would have to improve after the outlay.

Paper Round’s view: Such is the money available in the Premier League, and the size of the parachute payments to relegated sides, that the money arms race has trickled down all the way from the top four in the Premier League to around half the sides in the Championship. This means that not only are clubs spending £25m in the summer, but they cannot afford even two years out of the top flight, which explains Marinakis’ impatience.