Manchester United need to pay up for £62m Lazio midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic – Paper Round

United want Milinkovic-Savic

Manchester United are moving on from Frenkie de Jong and have made a £42m bid for Sergej Milinkovic-Savic of Lazio. The 27-year-old wants a move to a big club after years with the Serie A side, but The Mirror claims that the opening offer from United falls well short of the Italian club’s valuation, with another £20m needed to meet their valuation for the Serbian.

Paper Round’s view: Milinkovic-Savic has plenty of experience in Italy as well as international experience with his country. He however has no games yet in the Champions League and while United are not in the competition this year, they need to be bringing in better players than they have over the last four or five years since their decline became entrenched.

Laporta wants Messi back

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed that he wants to bring Lionel Messi back to the club, despite overseeing his exit to French club Paris Saint-Germain, He hopes the Argentine forward can retire at Barcelona, saying: “It is an aspiration that I have as president and I would like it to happen, [as] I have been jointly responsible for that end which I consider provisional,” he said.

Paper Round’s view: Messi is now 35 but has a year left on his contract in the French capital, so he could still be a useful player at the end of next season, and he could indeed sign a new pre-contract to agree a return to Spain. The player hardly looks thrilled when playing for PSG and if he is not yet ready to move on from European football then retiring at Barcelona would almost certainly be his preference.

Real target Broja

There’s surprising news in the Daily Mail, with a report that Real Madrid would like to sign Chelsea striker Armando Broja. It had been thought that the 20-year-old Albanian international would stay at Stamford Bridge after Romelu Lukaku’s departure to Inter Milan, but Real hope to sell some of their forwards and would like to bring in younger players like the Chelsea player.

Paper Round’s view: Broja is attracting attention from across the Premier League, including from West Ham, but if the interest from Real is true, then it shows just how highly he is rated after a season on loan with Southampton. Timo Werner is the latest player linked with an exit from the club which would make the departure of Broja even more difficult to imagine.

Newcastle set for Cornet swoop

The Sun believes that Newcastle will win the race for Maxwel Cornet. The Ivorian has a £17.5 million release clause at Burnley and has attracted attention from Chelsea and Everton. However with Newcastle struggling to land players in the summer transfer window, Eddie Howe could move ahead of other Premier League sides by signing the Burnley left-sided player.

Paper Round’s view: Cornet is a versatile player on the left-side and can play in defence and much higher up the pitch. It was a surprise that he was willing to join Burnley in the first place, but a move up the table following their relegation would suit his talents. Newcastle so far are showing discipline when it comes to spending, but Cornet’s release clause makes him a bargain.