Football news - Paper Round: Manchester United make move for £70m Jadon Sancho

Manchester United have approached Borussia Dortmund over their 18-year-old winger Jadon Sancho. The Sun reports the possibility of a £70 million transfer, which would in turn entitle Manchester City a 15% cut of any deal. There is also a clause allowing City to match any bid made by a rival club to bring Sancho back to his former club.

Paper Round’s view: At £70 million, Sancho appears to be a relative bargain by the standards of modern transfer fees, and given the teenager has happily run down his contract in the past then there is a good chance he would do the same to secure another move away in future. Given Sancho’s potential, and the political fallout from watching him join a rival, Dortmund could raise more money if a bidding war between United and City kicks off.

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked by The Mirror to AC Milan midfielder Suso. The 25-year-old used to play for Liverpool, but has impressed in his time in Serie A. The Spaniard has three years left on his current deal, however there is a £35 million release clause in his contract, which has led to interest both from Spurs and their rivals, Unai Emery’s Arsenal.

Paper Round’s view: Suso is a perfectly talented player, if nothing special, but at 25 there is still room and time for improvement over the next few years. At £35 million it may be more that he is affordable and likely to fit in with Premier League football given his prior experience with Liverpool.

One player who could extend his stay at Tottenham Hotspur is Heung-min Son, despite signing a new contract in July last year. The 26-year-old forward has 16 goals already this season and has impressed so much that he could be offered the chance to improve his wages from £110,000 a week to £150,000. The Mail reports that Daniel Levy is ready to secure his future at the club.

Paper Round’s view: Son has been one of the best value Premier League signings, and as he matures at Spurs he has started to contribute not only regular goals, but important ones too. As a technically skillful and quick player, there is no reason for the club to let him go and even if he only recently signed a new deal, he has earned improved terms already.

Amanda Staveley, who failed with an attempt to takeover Newcastle United on behalf of unnamed backers, has not given up the hope of buying another club. However, Staveley has also mentioned going back to Newcastle as a possibility, and is quoted in The Mirror as saying: “We are big fans of Newcastle, big fans of the team. We have no issue with Mr Ashley, that [the ‘time waster’ claim] is water under the bridge. It’s still an interesting club to us, the fans are fantastic, but we are looking at a lot of clubs.”

Paper Round’s view: Staveley’s lack of details over her backers is understandable, as many of them will want privacy, but it is not reassuring for Newcastle, Ashley or fans of other clubs that there is little transparency over who could be buying a club in the Premier League. That this could be unresolved for some time does not help the league’s reputation as toothless in the face of owners.