Manchester United 'to make £70m Wilfried Zaha move'

Manchester United are considering a move for Wilfried Zaha, according to a report in the Sun On Sunday. The 26-year-old Crystal Palace winger had a brief spell at Old Trafford earlier in his career but failed to break through. It would take £70 million to sign the Ivory Coast international but it is unclear if Zaha would be open to the move after being linked strongly to Arsenal.

Paper Round’s view: Zaha is an excellent Premier League player and it would only be a small gamble to see if he could step up to the Champions League, however there is the problem that United might well not see Champions League football for years to come. A move would strengthen the club’s right-hand side, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants.

The Mirror believes that former Arsenal player Giovanni van Bronckhorst could be in line to take over from Pep Guardiola when the Manchester City boss finally leaves the club. Van Bronckhorst is set to take over at City’s New York sister club, The Dutchman played at Barcelona and could replace Guardiola at the end of the Spaniard’s contract, which ends in 2022.

Paper Round’s view: City are fortunate that they have a nation state’s wealth behind them in order to fund whatever their managers require. If Van Bronckhorst learns the system in New York, then taking over potentially the most expensive side ever assembled in 2022 might give him the chance to learn on the job while still winning trophies.

Arsenal saw their side lose 2-0 against Leicester City and that might have persuaded them to ditch Unai Emery. The Spaniard has failed to adequately replace Arsene Wenger and the fans appear to have lost their faith in him, too. The Mail suggests that Arsenal executive Raul Sanllehi has already made contact with Luis Enrique over the chance to step in.

Paper Round’s view: It is not clear when or if Enrique is planning on returning to football following the death of his daughter. However he had acquitted himself well when in charge of Barcelona, and would be able to play an attractive style of football that Arsenal fans have decided is their natural state.

The Sunday Express have claimed that Chelsea are ready to express just £5 million for their striker Olivier Giroud. The 33-year-old French international is willing to move to MLS depending on the location of the side, with Vancouver Whitecaps interested, but is also wanted by Marseille, Nice, Bordeaux and Lyon, and Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte is also keen.

Paper Round’s view: Signing a player with as much experience as Giroud, who appears to still be in excellent shape, for just £5 million seems like a bargain. There are probably very few squads outside of the best in the world who would not benefit from being able to call upon Giroud when the business end of the season kicks in.