Chelsea to continue spending spree by targeting £50m-rated Anthony Gordon from Everton – Paper Round

Chelsea have opened talks with Everton over the potential signing of Anthony Gordon. The Mail reveal that the Blues have informed the Merseyside club that they would be willing to part with £40 million for Gordon. However, Everton value the 21-year-old at £50 million. The London side believe that it will be straightforward to agree personal terms with Gordon and negotiations between the clubs will continue this week. The Mail state that Chelsea are looking to sign a player who can “provide genuine competition” with right wing-back Reece James.

Paper Round’s view: This is a strange one. Gordon has just burst onto the scene and has quickly become a fans’ favourite at his boyhood club, Everton. It seems odd that Chelsea are willing to part with such a huge transfer fee for a player who has only really had one consistent season of Premier League football. What makes it even more bizarre is that the report states that he would be signed to provide competition with James – who is a defender. Gordon is currently playing in a centre-forward role for Everton and played on the wing last year. Surely he wouldn’t be used as a wing-back at Chelsea…

Barcelona manager Xavi is hoping that the club will continue to be active in the summer transfer market after an opening weekend draw against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou. Marca state that the Barca boss has demanded a new right-back after using natural centre-back Ronald Araujo on the flank in Saturday’s draw. The Catalan club are also hoping to sign Chelsea left-back Marcos Alonso and Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva before the transfer window closes next month.

Paper Round’s view: The Barcelona situation just seems a bit silly at the moment. The club are struggling to offload players, including Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite and Sergino Dest, while it is expected that high earners such as Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will depart this month. No business can be done before some of these players depart. Even €55-million summer signing Jules Kounde cannot be registered until a high earner leaves. Maybe former academy graduate Hector Bellerin could return from Arsenal in a cut-price deal.

Manchester City will loan Liam Delap out this season and the young striker has attracted attention from a handful of English clubs. The Independent reveal that Delap, who scored 24 goals in 20 matches for Manchester City’s Elite Development squad last year, is wanted by Burnley and Southampton. Pep Guardiola believes the 19-year-old would benefit from playing first-team football this season and Erling Haaland’s arrival is expected to limit those opportunities with the Premier League’s defending champions.

Paper Round’s view: It’s tough to break through at an elite-level club. Manchester City cannot afford to slip up so the opportunities to play senior football for a youngster like Delap are limited. Haaland will start every match he is fit, while Julian Alvarez will deputise for the Norwegian. Guardiola has even used Phil Foden as a false nine in the past. Delap needs to play first-team football. Will he get that at Southampton? It would be a very interesting move if he was convinced. Otherwise, you’d think Burnley – under Vincent Kompany’s tutelage – would work for Manchester City.

The Manchester United squad were forced to come in for extra training after the club’s new manager Erik ten Hag cancelled the players’ day off. United were at the wrong end of an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Brentford on Saturday, where the Bees players out-ran Ten Hag’s players by eight-and-a-half miles during the 90 minutes in west London. The Dutch coach made his players run that distance as a punishment on a sweltering Sunday, when temperatures were well over 30 degrees.

Paper Round’s view: You can see where Ten Hag is coming from. Obviously, there are deep-lying problems in this Manchester United squad – and within the entire club – but there is an embarrassingly poor lack of effort. The players seem like they do not care when they are on the pitch. So the idea is to bring the desire back. There’s no chance these players will want to do this again on their day off. Let’s see how they bounce back in their next match against… Liverpool. Oh dear.