Barcelona working on Mohamed Salah transfer, Wolves monitoring Donny van de Beek – Paper Round

Barcelona are "silently" working on bringing Mohamed Salah to Spain, the Mirror writes. Salah is said to be Xavi's top target, and the Egyptian has previously opened the door to a move to Spain in the past. With 18 months left on his current contract, Salah would have no shortage of suitors if extension talks with Liverpool continue to stall, and Barca are hoping to sign the forward if he runs his current deal down.

Paper Round's view: In 18 months' time, if his Liverpool contract runs down, then why not, but the more likely scenarios are either Salah signs a new contract or Liverpool accept he will move on and therefore look to cash in on him this summer. That would almost certainly rule out Barca given their current financial situation.

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Wolves are tracking Donny van de Beek’s situation at Manchester United, The Sun reports. The midfielder is reportedly saying enough is enough about his lack of playing time at Old Trafford, and while he is said to favour a move to Spain or Italy, Wolves remain a Premier League option for the Dutchman, likewise Newcastle.

Paper Round’s view: How do you solve a problem like Donny van de Beek? Just go. Anywhere. Somewhere where the manager appreciates your talents. The tricky thing is, his contract runs out in 2025 – so could United play hardball over a player with MORE than three years left? We’ll have to wait and see in January.

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Sticking with Van de Beek, the Telegraph reports he is one of several United fringe players who feel misled by manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his reluctance to rotate the squad. Van de Beek, Jesse Lingard, Dean Henderson, Eric Bailly, Alex Telles, Diogo Dalot, Juan Mata and Anthony Martial all expected more game-time this season, and despite a poor run of form of late, the group have been disheartened by Solskjaer’s unwillingness to call on them to shake things up. Van de Beek, for example, has played just 15 minutes of league football this season.

Paper Round’s view: Fair enough, really, particularly with the current run they are on. Pep Guardiola does a remarkable job at keeping the majority of his squad happy. Of course the Manchester City boss has a greater depth of quality, but that is arguably trickier and is a testament to his man-management skills. Solskjaer meanwhile can’t seem to get it right, and that list above doesn’t even mention Jadon Sancho, who was arguably misled when being convinced to join United.

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Nuno Espirito Santo is keen for a quick return to management in the Premier League, The Sun reports. Nuno lasted just four months at Tottenham, and his agent Jorge Mendes is said to be eyeing up a move to France with Lyon and Lille both possible destinations. The former Wolves boss is open to waiting for a Premier League vacancy, given there have already been five sackings this season. He was not, however, in the running for recent roles at Aston Villa and Norwich City.

Paper Round’s view: Where next for Nuno in the Prem? Is arguably the key question. If he wasn’t in the running at Norwich or Villa, and having been dismissed by Spurs after leaving Wolves, where exactly would he want to go? He would perhaps be a contender at Everton, or teams of that calibre, but his swift Spurs spell damaged his credentials somewhat and he may find clubs look elsewhere if they decide to pull the trigger.