Barcelona weigh up moves for Erling Haaland, Alexander Isak and Jules Kounde - Paper Round

Spanish side Barcelona are keen on signing Erling Haaland, with the player available for €75 million from Borussia Dortmund at the end of the season. However if they fail to sign him then they will move for Alexander Isak of Real Sociedad, and use the rest of their budget to bring in a central defender, with Sevilla’s Frenchman Jules Kounde their target for the backline.

Paper Round’s view: Kounde was meant to be priced at around the same figure as Haaland by his current club, but presumably the Norwegian is making much higher wage demands than Kounde. Given Barcelona appear to have turned the corner financially, at least in the short term, it seems that they are happy to spend to rebuild despite presumably having to sell more players this summer.

Lille midfielder Renato Sanches is wanted by Arsenal, report The Sun, but the paper claims that the 24-year-old Portuguese international is instead likely to join Italian side AC Milan. Sanches is said to have excellent relations with the Serie A club and given he is keen to join the only obstacle in the way is the fee, with Lille wanting at least £15 million. Arsenal may move onto Sanches' team-mate, Jonathan David.

Paper Round’s view: David is a hugely promising forward player and if Lille are willing to sell for the right price then it may help the club deal with the exit of both Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah on a free transfer in the summer. As for Sanches, it is fantastic to see him recover from his early struggles with Bayern Munich and he appears well set to succeed at whichever big club is lucky enough to sign him.

However, there is a chance that Arsenal might be in the running for Sanches still, given a story in The Mirror. The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Lille must pay up to Sporting Lisbon for their signing of Rafael Leao - who is oddly now a Milan player - on a free transfer in 2018. That means that the French club might need to sell some of their players, giving the Gunners the chance to outbid Milan.

Paper Round’s view: Lille have often managed to sign players on bargain fees and it appears that the club pushed too hard in the case of Leao. Arsenal are likely better funded than Milan right now, which allows them the chance to steal ahead if they are battling for a particular player, but their striker David might be the player who offers them strength in the position they need most.

Manchester United are known to be weighing up Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag as their new manager, but they may end up losing out on Pochettino to Real Madrid, according to Marca. Carlo Ancelotti is likely to be sent on his way, particularly if they go out of the Champions League against PSG, and Kylian Mbappe is said to be keen on working with Pochettino at his prospective new club.

Paper Round’s view: Pochettino has not done anything special at PSG, but with Leonardo offering plenty of interference - however insightful it might be, or otherwise - there is clearly an appetite for a new name in Paris. Pochettino has previously said he would never manage Barcelona due to his experience at Espanyol, so this might be his one chance to take over a big club in Spain.