Manchester United set to make £40m Ajax winger Antony their first summer signing – Paper Round

United close in on Antony

The Mirror reports that Ajax winger Antony will be the first signing of the Erik ten Hag era at Manchester United. The 22-year-old Brazilian winger is wanted to provide width in a team that struggled to attack down the wings last season, under both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and then Ralf Rangnick. Antony will cost around £40 million and United officials are said to already be in the Netherlands for talks.

Paper Round’s view: Jadon Sancho has had a fairly miserable first season at Old Trafford, while the rest of the club’s wide players – Mason Greenwood, Juan Mata, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard – have left, are unavailable, or are in poor form. Bringing in someone who is untarnished by the failure of last season may help the Dutchman rebuild the side.

Arsenal target Raphinha

The Sun claims that Barcelona now face competition for Brazilian winger Raphinha. The Leeds United forward has been monitored by Xavi Hernandez but the Spanish club are yet to make a bid for the player. Instead it is Arsenal who have stepped into the frame for the 25-year-old, with a potential stumbling block being the £60m asking price that Leeds are insisting upon.

Paper Round’s view: Leeds have survived for at least one more year in the top flight and are already active in the transfer market to support their American manager, Jesse Marsch. With no immediate money worries and a player under contract, they do not need to make selling Raphinha an easy task for anyone, especially if they will face them next season. Arsenal will have to pay up.

West Ham move for Broja held up

Armando Broja is a target for West Ham after the 20-year-old English striker, who plays for the Albanian national team. He impressed on loan last season at Southampton, who are also reportedly keen on the player. However there is one obstacle for David Moyes and co as Chelsea’s new ownership are yet to assign a valuation on the player, meaning negotiations are held up.

Paper Round’s view: Chelsea’s takeover has rescued the club from limbo but there is going to be plenty to sort out under the new ownership. The negotiations over Romelu Lukaku will also obviously take precedence as his exit will free up budget for more important targets. Broja has a good couple of months to resolve his future with many more teams likely to want him.

PSG to continue spending

Despite losing hundreds of millions of euros, Spanish newspaper Marca reports that Paris Saint-Germain will continue to spend big. Porto player Vitinha, Lille midfielder Renato Sanches and Inter Milan Milan Skriniar defender should all arrive, while there could be exits for Marco Verratti, Pablo Sarabia, Rafinha Alcantara, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Alphonse Areola and Sergio Rico.

Paper Round’s view: The spending at PSG does seem like it would provoke investigation from UEFA where Financial Fair Play is concerned but given it appears the rules and powers of the governing body seem largely toothless, perhaps the French side think that the whole business can be ignored and if they need to, they can spend millions in the courts to defend themselves.