City ready for deadline day Kane signing
Manchester City are prepared to wait until the last minute to complete their signing of Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur, reports the Mirror. The 27-year-old is valued at £160 million by his current club, but City want to pay less than £100 million in cash, with the rest made up by players – Daniel Levy does not want that. City therefore have chosen to bide their time.
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Paper Round’s view: The longer City wait, the harder it might actually get to sign Kane. Spurs will need to replace their star player with someone who can carry that same burden, and also lift the fans as they begin their consistent return to their stadium. Such a player won’t be possible to get if they have to wait until the dying days of the transfer window to get hold of him.
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Villa to offer Grealish huge new deal
The Sun claims that Aston Villa hope to keep their playmaker Jack Grealish out of the clutches of Manchester City. City are reportedly ready to offer £100m for the England international, but Villa are hopeful of keeping him. To that end, they are prepared to offer him a new contract – just a year after his last extension – that is worth £200,000 a week in wages.
Paper Round’s view: Grealish is an excellent player but there are questions over his lifestyle. If Villa can get £100 million for him then really they should consider cashing in, because he may only have a couple of years before his body turns against him. Of course, right now, when everything is going well then this looks like the most ridiculous option instead of just spending more to keep him.
United may struggle to land Camavinga
Manchester United could find it difficult to land Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga. The 18-year-old French international is out of contract with his club next year and they want to sell up this summer. However, The Mail says that Camavinga is not keen on a move to the Premier League and would prefer to go to Spain, but the financial situation in Madrid means any deal is unlikely with Real.
Paper Round’s view: United have been burned before by buying players who are not set on the club, particularly Angel Di Maria, who put in some of the most desultory efforts ever seen at Old Trafford, because the player didn’t want to be there. You could extend the same underwhelming efforts to some of Paul Pogba’s appearances, and it makes it clear unhappy players are simply not worth buying, or creating.
Bayern struggle with Coman and Goretzka deals
There could be exits over the next two summers for Bayern Munich. Leon Goretzka has one year left on his current deal and the club are struggling to convince the 26-year-old to stay. Kingsley Coman, 25, has a deal that runs until 2023 but his wages demands are 12 million euros net, which is a hard wage demand via his agent Pini Zihavi. Bayern would prefer not to lose them for nothing.
Paper Round’s view: The problem for Bayern is that their very best players such as Robert Lewandowski earn fairly hefty salaries, and while they might do well at identifying cheap talent in the market, those players then know their worth when it comes to a renewal. This is tough time for any club in this situation, as clubs look for free transfer bargains of their own, but cannot offer huge wages easily.
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