Football news, transfer rumours and gossip - Inter Milan in talks for Spurs' Christian Eriksen

Inter Milan have had a £10.5 million bid for Christian Eriksen rejected, according to the Daily Mail. The paper reports that Tottenham Hotspur have rebuffed the offer from the Italians for the 27-year-old playmaker. The London club want £20 million for the Denmark international, who will be free to leave the club at the end of the season for nothing. Talks are ongoing between the sides.

Paper Round’s view: £20 million is probably an optimistic price if there is only one serious suitor, but if they can start a bidding war between a few clubs then they might get the bulk of that sum. However, Inter can comfortably run down the transfer window to increase their leverage, and they are on course for a Champions League finish regardless of signing Eriksen.

The Daily Telegraph reports that Pep Guardiola will stay at least until the end of his contract with Manchester City, until 2021, and may even stay on beyond that. First of all he wants to gauge the interest of the owners in committing to the same direction he believes in. The paper states that Guardiola has a break clause which allows him to leave the club in the summer.

Paper Round’s view: Guardiola’s brother has gone into business with City’s owners in order to buy Girona, so there are clearly deep financial ties between his family and City. That makes leaving less likely as he does not want to upset the huge financial rewards being offered to him. City have disappointed this season, but it is within them still to win two domestic cups and the Champions League.

Manchester United have decided to cancel their players’ mid-season trip to Qatar. United had planned to go to Qatar at the start of February in order to take advantage of the winter break they will be granted. However tensions in the Middle East have put paid to that, with Solskjaer saying: “We were looking at the Middle East, but that is definitely not going to happen. If there’s one thing that worries me, it’s not on the football pitch – there are other things that will worry me more than football.”

Paper Round’s view: Given Qatar’s miserable human rights record, this is not a country that United should be patronising in any way, however much money is offered by sponsors. There are countries closer to home with warmer climates that offer a less repressive atmosphere and it is a net benefit that the club have been forced to look elsewhere for sunshine.

Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has earned a huge bonus after taking the Welsh international team to Euro 2020. The Welsh football federation will earn around £8 million from attending the championship this summer, and £5.5 million of that will go to staff bonuses. Manager Giggs will take £400,000 of that as his own reward.

Paper Round’s view: Players are generally given little money for succeeding internationally compared to their domestic achievements. For Premier League stars and people like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey, such bonuses will make little difference to their life but such a big lump sum could be life-changing for some of the Welsh team’s less prominent stars, who play lower down the football league pyramid.