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Man City still confident of £150m Harry Kane deal, Lionel Messi expected in Paris by Wednesday – Paper Round

Michael Hincks

Updated 10/08/2021 at 07:31 GMT

Unsurprisingly Harry Kane and Lionel Messi feature in Tuesday’s Paper Round amid reports Manchester City are still confident of signing Kane, while PSG hope to speak with Messi in Paris by Wednesday. Staying with PSG, there could be an exodus on the way, while Leicester are eyeing a Manchester United midfielder if James Maddison leaves this summer.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane

Image credit: Getty Images

City confident on Kane

Manchester City remain confident they will sign Harry Kane this transfer window, the Evening Standard reports. A deal is unlikely to be struck before the start of the season, but the England captain remains their top target after the Premier League champions refused to enter negotiations for Lionel Messi. A £150m deal remains possible despite Spurs being unwilling to sell the striker - the two sides meet for their Premier League opener on Sunday.
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'We are very interested in him' - Guardiola confirms City want Kane

Paper Round's view: Spurs boss Nuno has claimed Kane will be available for Sunday's match despite the fact he'll train alone till Thursday. It adds a layer of intrigue to an already fascinating encounter, but whether Spurs bother playing their potentially £150m asset, we'll have to wait and see. Surely not.
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Messi to Paris, soon

It would be remiss to go a single Paper Round at the moment without seeing what they have to say about Lionel Messi's expected move to Paris Saint-Germain. The Telegraph reports that PSG are hopeful Messi will fly to the French capital within the next 48 hours to complete his move after Barcelona were unable to keep the Argentine. PSG fans gathered outside Le Bourget airport on Monday, but Messi was pictured back home in Barca in his swimming shorts to signal a move was not quite imminent.
Paper Round's view: Some day, yesterday. Who knew we'd see footage of Messi relaxing in his swimming shorts while PSG fans were hopeful he'd be arriving soon. With each day we can't help but wonder if there's a twist to this tale, and every day he spends in Barcelona will only mean that feeling remains…
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Messi breaks down in tears as he announces Barcelona departure

Up to 10 PSG players could leave

Abdou Diallo, Thilo Kehrer, Idrissa Gueye and Rafinha are among the PSG stars who could be sold or sent out on loan this summer, while Mauro Icardi and Ander Herrera may also be offloaded, the Daily Mail reports. PSG need to lighten their wage bill with Messi on the verge of joining, and that could see up to 10 players leaving the club this summer.
Paper Round's view: No surprise really, but where are all these players going to go? And the players Barca are looking to offload too? And then the exodus at Inter is alarming too. Football has a big ol' issue.
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Lingard in if Maddison goes?

Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard will be a target for Leicester if James Madison leaves the club this summer, Football.London reports. Maddison has been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks, although a reported £100m price tag could detract Arsenal from making an offer. However, were he to leave then Leicester would consider Lingard as an option to replace him.
Paper Round's view: This would be very interesting, but it's hard to see it playing out. Maddison leaving seems unlikely and then on top of that it's seems even more distant that Leicester would an amount for Lingard that United want, and that West Ham have not potentially offered already.
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