Real Madrid 'could abandon Christian Eriksen move'

Real Madrid target Christian Eriksen may have to give up his dream of a move to the Spanish club. The 27-year-old international is available for around £30 million, and Real had considered paying up despite him being free in the summer, in order to avoid a bidding was with Paris Saint-Germain, according to the Sun. However the emergence of Federico Valverde has put the need for a transfer in doubt.

Paper Round’s view: If Real want to sign Paul Pogba in the coming summer, they will probably need to keep as much of their powder dry as possible to meet Manchester United’s demands. They may even make the move easier to complete if they give United a free run at Pogba to ensure they have a ready-made replacement.

The Daily Mail reports a claim that Mario Mandzukic is doing all he can in order to secure a move to Manchester United. The paper says that the 33-year-old Croatian striker has reduced his wage demands from £300,000 a week to half that, as he struggles to find a way into the Juventus first eleven since the end of the summer transfer window.

Paper Round’s view: It is hard to credit this story by taking it at face value. Perhaps Mandzukic could have got £300,000 a week from a move to Qatar, and at a stretch from a Chinese club, but he will be aware that he could not make the same request from a top European side given that would put him on a par with players like Paul Pogba.

Arsenal and Liverpool are facing off in the race for young Hearts defender Aaron Hickey. The 17-year-old left back has made seven appearances and scored one goal so far this season, and is attracting plenty of interest from the Premier League. As well as Manchester City, there is also attention from Crystal Palace, Southampton, Norwich and Newcastle, claims the Mirror.

Paper Round’s view: Full-back is such a vital position for top clubs these days that identifying them at a young age is a huge bonus. They need to do so much work for sides that some of them can start to fade in their late twenties, so even Arsenal may soon decide they need back-up when Kieran Tierney is playing regularly for them on the wings,

Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is gearing up to spend the £80 million he received from the sale of Harry Maguire to Manchester United in the summer. Rodgers wants to bring in another central defender to compete with Wes Morgan, and the arrival of another striker could allow Kelechi Iheanacho to depart on loan.

Paper Round’s view: Rodgers is doing a fine job at Leicester and he has given his side confidence while coaching them to improve on the pitch. His concern must be that the same mistakes are not made as they were at Liverpool, when they frittered huge sums on money buying players who were ill-suited to their coach, and who were not up to standard.