Football news, transfer rumours and gossip - Manchester United and Chelsea fight for Moussa Dembele

Manchester United and Chelsea are both in the running for Lyon forward Moussa Dembele, according to a report in the Mirror. The paper claims that the two Premier League sides want the 23-year-old French striker, and Chelsea boss believes he represents better value than winter targets Edinson Cavani and Dries Mertens. United will aim to spend big in the summer.

Paper Round’s view: Dembele had not yet proved himself enough at Celtic, and it is no surprise that Premier League sides let him join Lyon knowing that there was a decent chance they could pick him up later down the line. That might cost them, with Dembele now rated at around £60 million, but Chelsea can afford that after their extended transfer ban, while United could stretch to the figure too.

The Sun brings both clubs back for a story of their own. They believe that Manchester United and Chelsea will face off for Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund’s forward. Manchester City have a 20% sell-on clause, and the 19-year-old England international would cost around £100 million. Neither United nor Chelsea could afford that figure this winter and could come back with more cash in the summer.

Paper Round’s view: Both Chelsea and United are playing catch-up with Manchester City and Liverpool, and Leicester City’s move up the table doesn’t make life any easier. Sancho is a rare opportunity to buy excellent talent and potential at an early age, and in that respect £100m could be a bargain. The difficulty might be in raising the funds to get a deal done while balancing the books with sales.

Manchester City’s Leroy Sane could still make a move to Bayern Munich, as he leaves a huge contract offer on the table from his Premier League club. The 24-year-old German international has a year and a half left on his current deal, but Bayern are still interested in bringing him back to the Bundesliga. He could still cost around £80 million despite currently running down his deal.

Paper Round’s view: Sane has the remaining few months of the season to prove his fitness. If he does that, he will likely be included in Germany’s squad for Euro 2020. An impressive tournament there could attract attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, and might help Manchester City raise a decent amount for him instead of losing him for nothing in the summer of 2021.

The Telegraph takes a look at the summer transfer market ahead of us and identifies a few names of players likely to be in demand. Sane is one, mentioned here again, as are wide forwards Kingsley Coman and Hwang Hee-chan. However the paper also believes that Wolves forward Adama Traore could be on the move, with a fee of £89 million or more possible for the 24-year-old Spaniard.

Paper Round’s view: If Traore continues to improve then it is not inconceivable that he might squeeze into Spain’s squad for Euro 2020. If that happened then bigger clubs might decide to take a look at him and see if he could be prised away from Wolves, especially if they could offer him Champions League football.