Gareth Bale against loan move amid Manchester United interest – Paper Round

Manchester United are considering a loan deal for Gareth Bale although the player would prefer a permanent move away from Real Madrid, the Daily Mail reports. The Welshman is open to leaving Spain this summer, but is against a loan as it would only delay sorting out his long-term future by another year. United are keen on the idea as it would be a short-term solution before signing Jadon Sancho in 12 months' time, but Bale's current wages of £600,000-a-week are also a stumbling block in any prospective deal.

Paper Round’s view: Bale will know better than anyone how long he feels he can play for at the top, and so it makes sense to resolve his future sooner rather than later to work out exactly where that will be. United have long been considered a possible destination for Bale, but once more wages appear to be an issue. Few, if any, clubs in Europe can afford to match that salary.

United are also weighing up a move for Valencia midfielder Uros Racic, The Sun reports. Viewed as a potential successor to fellow Serbian and current United player Nemanja Matic, Racic has a release clause of £92m at Valencia, a club he has barely featured for having gone out on loan twice since joining from Red Star Belgrade in 2018. United are hoping a £28m move could bring him to Old Trafford.

Paper Round’s view: Honestly? Never heard of him, so can’t go on pretending and saying he would be a good fit. Didn’t watch him at his loan spell at Famalicao, nor at Tenerife, so who knows. Someone, just not me. But still, £28m?

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Gonzalo Higuain will become the highest paid player in the MLS when signing for David Beckham’s Inter Miami, the Daily Mail reports. The Argentina striker has agreed a £2.3m payoff with Juventus to terminate his contract a year early, freeing the 32-year-old up to sign a contract at Inter Miami. Reports in the US state Higuain will earn a base salary of £5.45m ($7m) in a move which will see him link up with former team-mate Blaise Matuidi.

Paper Round’s view: Starting from scratch is not easy, but with money and the lure of playing for a side part-owned by Beckham, Inter Miami are slowly getting there. The proof is in the upturn in results, although two wins and two draws from their last six still sees them rooted to the bottom of the eastern conference after a very sluggish start (five defeats). In Higuain, they have a player obviously capable of propelling them up the table.

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An American consortium will step up their efforts to buy West Ham after an opening offer of £350m was rejected last month, the Guardian reports. David Gold and David Sullivan bought the club back in 2010 but are now facing increasing calls to leave with the recent sale of Grady Diangana to West Brom not only angering fans but also leading captain Mark Noble to tweet his frustration with the Hammers hierarchy.

Paper Round’s view: This will be music to West Ham fans’ ears, but like Newcastle supporters it is unlikely they will get excited until new owners come in with promise, a treasure chest, and a vision. Who knows when that will actually be.