Sunday papers

[bennythedip2]

Premier League - Paper Round: Ronaldo's United return moves closer

A look through the transfer stories in the Sunday papers - are Manchester United about to get Cristiano Ronaldo AND Luis Suarez?

RONALDO TO RETURN TO UNITED: The Mail on Sunday features a huge rumour courtesy of Rob Shepherd's Football Grapevine column, which says Cristiano Ronaldo could rejoin Manchester United next summer. Ronaldo has declared (and then backtracked on) his unhappiness at Real Madrid's summer transfer dealings, and Shepherd writes: "Ronaldo could be swayed by Man United’s new 'Galactico' recruiting policy. The key could be Falcao moving on from his loan with United to Madrid, whom he wanted to join last week." Super-agent Jorge Mendes, who represents Ronaldo, Falcao and Di Maria, would be key for the move to go ahead. For good measure, United are also after Arturo Vidal, Mats Hummels and Sami Khedira.

Paper Round's view:
Ronaldo has always said he wanted to return to Old Trafford, where he would be welcomed back rapturously - but United have a few things to take care of first, like getting back into the Champions League. Clearly United's main need is not attacking players, but they would make an exception for Ronaldo. The club's relationship with Mendes has been highly profitable for both parties so a Ronaldo comeback is not out of the question - but talk of a deal is still speculative rather than concrete.

'A SUAREZ EVERY YEAR' FOR UNITED: A fascinating piece in the Sunday Telegraph adds weight to the Ronaldo rumours, and also sheds light on the financial muscle lent to United by their new kit deal with Adidas, worth £750 million over 10 years. It seems the talk at the club is of signing 'a Suarez every year' - perhaps an unfortunate choice of player, but the bitey ex-Liverpool man is used as a byword for a marquee signing

Paper Round's view:
While the Adidas deal is a significant improvement on the previous Nike one, it is presumptuous to imagine that United intend to maintain their current rate of transfer spending indefinitely. The Glazers' ownership has been marked by parsimonious spending, with the club hamstrung by debt. While the shackles have been taken off to help the club return to the Champions League, we're not sure they'll be chucking money around willy-nilly for the next decade.

SPURS SHAKE-UP AFTER TRANSFER FAILURE: Franco Baldini's position as Tottenham's technical director is in peril after his failure to sign a striker during the transfer window, the Sunday Mirror claims. Spurs were favourites to sign Danny Welbeck on the morning of deadline day, only to see the England man go to Arsenal in a £16m deal. Mauricio Pochettino is reportedly unhappy that Baldini failed to land Welbeck, Wilfried Bony or Loic Remy, while the club tried to sell Nacer Chadli, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend against the manager's wishes.

Paper Round's view:
A strike force of Emmanuel Adebayor, Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane doesn't really look powerful enough to fire Tottenham back into the top four, so Pochettino's frustration is understandable - particularly as Remy, Bony and Welbeck could all have been signed had the club acted more decisively - and a move for Southampton's Morgan Schneiderlin also failed to come through. But how much of this is Baldini's fault? We don't know. If the Italian was not given the financial muscle to land the players, it is hard to blame him for Tottenham's underwhelming summer.

RICHARDS REJECTED PREMIER LEAGUE: Micah Richards has revealed he turned down Premier League clubs to move to Fiorentina from Manchester City. The 26-year-old was wanted by West Ham, but chose a move to Italy after cutting his ties with City. Richards also said he was convinced to join the Viola by former City man Stefan Savic.

Paper Round's view:
We're huge fans of Richards' move to Fiorentina, and wish more players had the courage to take on a completely new challenge rather than settling for whatever middling English club was prepared to take them. After losing his way at City, Richards gets to play for an exciting young team in one of Europe's most beautiful cities.
Is it really any wonder he opted for Tuscany ahead of the East End?