Timo Werner eyed as Erling Haaland replacement, Bayern Munich lurking for Borussia Dortmund star - Paper Round

Erling Haaland could be on his way to Bayern Munich, reports The Mirror, with the 21-year-old attracting attention from the German champions, as well as Manchester City and Manchester United, amongst others. The paper also reports that Borussia Dortmund might consider a move for Timo Werner, with the 25-year-old struggling to find his Bundesliga form in the Premier League.

Paper Round’s view: Werner continues to show more than just flashes of his ability but he is not yet a reliable first team presence at Stamford Bridge, and with financial problems possibly on the horizon for Chelsea, they might be forced to take up interest from Dortmund. As for Haaland, he would be foolish not to entertain an offer from one of the most dominant clubs in Europe.

Ousmane Dembele scored and assisted on Sunday as he continues his impressive return to the first team at Barcelona. The Frenchman is out of contract at the end of season and Spanish newspaper Marca reports that he could now sign a new deal. However one sticking point is that the 24-year-old wants a long-term deal, while Barca say they cannot afford such an arrangement.

Paper Round’s view: Barcelona have been trying to reduce their wage bill significantly and they cannot risk keeping Dembele on if he again suffers from injury. While the temptation must be for Barcelona to keep hold of a player who can be devastating in attack and who they would not want to lose for nothing, they might still decide that money is better spent elsewhere.

Nikola Vlasic joined West Ham for £25.7 million last year from CSKA Moscow, and the 24-year-old Croatian has done well at the club. However the Mail reports there could soon be a problem on the horizon. With Britain moving to cut off Russia from payment systems and business dealing, the club may be prevented from fulfilling their obligations and paying the next instalment for the player.

Paper Round’s view: Football is just one of the aspects of the global reaction to Russia that will throw up all kinds of unforeseen and relatively minor consequences. However if West Ham do not pay CSKA, are they theoretically breaking a UEFA rule and risking a transfer embargo? There is much work to be done to make sure that clubs are not trapped between the law and football regulations.

Reportedly selling Chelsea due to fear of sanctions from the British government - despite his repeated denials of links to Russian president Vladimir Putin - The Sun reports that owner Roman Abramovich is attracting attention for the club that is up for sale. Jim Ratcliffe, Todd Boehly, Hansjorg Wyss and Stephen Ross are all mentioned as potential buyers for Chelsea.

Paper Round’s view: Abramovich may be in a pickle here. If he has forgiven the loans to the club then that makes for an easier sale, but the ‘net proceeds’ stipulation of how much goes to a charitable foundation suggests that he could deduct any losses from a sale before passing on extra cash. Further to that, he is having to get rid of assets in a fire sale, and that might encourage potential new owners to really push down on what they offer him.