Manchester United line up £50m Cody Gakpo as Cristiano Ronaldo eyes Sporting Lisbon return – Paper Round

Ronaldo linked with Sporting Lisbon return

Cristiano Ronaldo has been linked with a return to his former club. Sporting Lisbon. Spanish newspaper Marca reports that the 37-year-old striker is a free transfer, and has been sending his cars back from Manchester to the Portuguese capital. Ronaldo’s mother is known to want her son to go back to the club where he made his professional debut before moving to Manchester United.

Paper Round’s view: Ronaldo does not appear highly sentimental about many things, but he takes his legacy seriously. If he can earn 200 million euros a year in Saudi Arabia, that must appeal to him, but Sporting Lisbon might offer him something more tempting. Next season he would almost certainly be back in the Champions League, giving him the chance to add to his tally.

United want Kim Min-jae

Manchester United are looking to sign Kim Min-jae from Napoli in the coming transfer window, reports the Mirror. The 26-year-old South Korean international is available for his release clause of £38 million, and would likely mean that Harry Maguire’s time at Old Trafford has come to an end. While Maguire has done well at the World Cup, Erik ten Hag is looking for reinforcements.

Paper Round’s view: Ten Hag has rightly clocked that compared to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez, Maguire struggles on the ball. In the World Cup he has not been under serious pressure from any of the teams so far and has looked far better as a result. Bringing in the Fenerbahce would allow Maguire to move on to a team that is happier with his qualities.

Konate mentioned with Vlahovic swap

Livepool could offer up 23-year-old defender Ibrahima Konate to Juventus as Max Allegri looks for defensive additions to his squad. The Sun believes that they could use Konata in a swap deal for Dusan Vlahovic as they hope to add a striker who can offer more than Darwin Nunez. The Serbian international has been rumoured to be unpopular in the dressing room at his new club.

Paper Round’s view: The rumours around Vlahovic have been growing in recent weeks and it appears that Allegri and others would be willing to move him on. As for Konate, Liverpool’s defence is not what it was and perhaps Klopp is willing to get rid of the player to rebalance his squad. The most worried player must be Nunez, who has fallen off since his bright start at the Charity Shield.

United to make Gakpo offer

The Mail suggests that Cody Gakpo could be in line for a January switch to Manchester United with the 23-year-old PSV Eindhoven striker impressing in Qatar for the Netherlands. Erik ten Hag needs a new striker after the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in January, and they will offer £50m. Ten Hag and Gakpo share agents so the hope is that the transfer will be completed swiftly.

Paper Round’s view: Gakpo has been in decent form at the World Cup and has done well at PSV for a couple of years now but with no consistent experience in top level performance, any move straight to the Premier League would be a gamble. However, United do not have many options if they want to find someone in the winter given most other clubs will look to keep their squads intact.