Football news, transfer rumours and gossip - Manchester United 'to miss out on James Maddison'

Manchester United target James Maddison is set to turn down the chance to move to Old Trafford by signing a new deal with Leicester City, reports the Daily Mail. The 23-year-old England international will be offered the chance to double his wages to £100,000 a week, while Turkish central defender Caglar Soyncu will be given a new deal after becoming first choice in defence.

Paper Round’s view: Brendan Rodgers has done an exceptional job with Leicester and they are poised to qualify for next year’s Champions League competition. They have as solid financial base already so tying down their best players to long term contracts will help them preserve the eventual resale values of their squad, even if they do not need to sell now.

Everton are set to offer a contract extension to Leighton Baines, according to the Mirror. The 35-year-old left-back is wanted by Carlo Ancelotti because his versatility means that other players could be let go. Maarten Stekelenburg, Cuco Martina and Oumar Niasse are also coming towards the end of their contract but no decision has been made on their future.

Paper Round’s view: Everton have injury worries with Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Yerry Mina, so it may make sense to keep on both Niasse and Martina for the next couple of months to make sure they have a full squad to pick for. As for Baines, it is obviously worth keeping on a respected and responsible member of the team in order to help Ancelotti set the tone for his new team.

The Telegraph believes that the Premier League have been asked to explain just how Project Restart is a benefit to the wider footballing community. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden had specified that any return should support the profession, but apart from solidarity payments being brought forward, there have been no signs that more money will be passed down.

Paper Round’s view: Asking multi-million pound organisations to do the right thing is rarely enough. Often the reason for their amassed wealth is by concentrating on their own needs alone at the expense of others. If the government wants redistribution to happen then it should not simply ask for it and hope for the best, it should legislate for it.

The Sun exclusively brings us the news that Chelsea are sending their players meals on wheels during the coronavirus. The club are not allowing their players into their canteen, so instead they are being given takeaways prepared especially for the players, allowing them to get back into shape for the restart of the Premier League.

Paper Round’s view: Being in shared, enclosed spaces can severely increase your risk to infection, so it makes sense that Chelsea are taking a logical step to mitigate the dangers of coronavirus. They are allowing full contract in training, but even that might not be a risky as sitting in a confined area for an extensive period of time.