Paris Saint-Germain 'demand full £206m for Neymar after failed Barcelona bid'

The Daily Mail reports that Barcelona’s first bid for Neymar has been rejected by Paris Saint-Germain. The Spanish club made an offer of £74 million, plus the Brazilian midfielder Philippe Coutinho, but the French club want the equivalent of the £206 million they splashed out on the 27-year-old striker. They have suggested that £93 million, Nelson Semedo, Ivan Rakitic, and Coutinho would be sufficient, but Barca want to keep Semedo, and Rakitic is reluctant to move.

Paper Round’s view: Barcelona have given themselves a short period of time to pull off a complicated and controversial transfer, which might not even make their side better for all it will cost them. One alternative might be to use Antoine Griezmann, who some players at his new club are reportedly unconvinced by, and include him in the deal.

Tottenham Hotspur are worried that they could lose Toby Alderweireld for nothing at the end of the season. He had a £25 million release clause for part of this summer which was not activated by any club, and now has just a year left on his contract. Roma remain interested and could make a late, lower bid before the end of their transfer window, according to the Mirror.

Paper Round’s view: Tottenham have both Jan Vertonghen and Alderweireld coming towards the end of their careers, and they have done well to bring in Davinson Sanchez to replace one of them. While it would be understandable if Daniel Levy accepted a bid for Alderweireld now, it would leave them desperately short of cover at the back without him.

Manchester United are ready to cut their already sizeable losses from signing Alexis Sanchez. The 30-year-old Chilean striker has been in woeful form for the club ever since his move from Arsenal, and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is prepared to subsidise his wages of around £500,000 a week in order to help him move on. The Sun reports that Italian club Roma are interested but not if they have to take on his whole salary.

Paper Round’s view: Sanchez has been abominable in a United shirt, showing the worst of his qualities as a player. Whatever is causing those problems, United can't afford to carry another player not capable of reaching the required standards to qualify for the Champions League. A move elsewhere might help him rediscover his confidence and enjoy the last few years of his career.

Real Madrid only signed Luka Jovic this summer from Eintracht Frankfurt, but he could already be moving on. Spanish newspaper Marca believes that the 21-year-old forward could be loaned out to another club after failing to convince ZInedine Zidane that he is ready for the first team. However, Jovic is reluctant to leave so quickly.

Paper Round’s view: If Zidane is already considering sending out one of his most expensive signings, while having to keep Gareth Bale, then things at the Bernabeu could quickly get quite tasty this season. Spending 60 million euros on a player the manager does not want, while not being able to afford his chief target Paul Pogba, could see Zidane walk away again.