Paper Round: Manchester City in talks with Liverpool for £50m Raheem Sterling

Manchester City meet with Liverpool over Sterling - Manchester City have taken the biggest step yet in their attempts to buy Raheem Sterling. The Sun understands that the Citizens met with Reds officials and expressed their plans to bid on the 20-year-old. Liverpool want £50 million for Sterling - and it seems City are willing to pay that. 

Paper Round's view - This is the first time there has been any reports of a club actually speaking face-to-face with Liverpool about a move. That's a big step and with the other main interested party being Man United - who Liverpool will not sell to - City must now fancy their chances. They know that the tension between Sterling and Liverpool has compelled the Reds to sell, but not cheap. £50 million isn't that and if they're still willing to bid after meeting with Liverpool, there has to be some reason for optimism.

- - -

Sterling open to Manchester United move - Manchester United want Raheem Sterling and The Guardian claims that Sterling would be happy considering such a move. Sterling is still in a standoff with Liverpool and the Red Devils are hoping to pounce, despite the Reds telling their rivals that there is no way Sterling will become the first player to transfer directly between the clubs in over 50 years. Sterling is concerned how people would react to him going to Old Trafford because of the rivalry between the two teams, but loves the idea of playing for Louis van Gaal.

Paper Round's view - Sterling should want to play for van Gaal. He would do marvellously well under the Dutchman, capable of playing anywhere across the frontline in Van Gaal's 4-3-3. Man United are also a big club who are back in the Champions League. But no player has gone from Liverpool to Man United (or vice versa) since 1964 and Sterling will not be the man to break that streak. The Reds may sell him, but it won't be to their rivals.

- - -

Skrtel could leave Liverpool for Inter Milan - Martin Skrtel has interest from Inter Milan and could bolt Liverpool for the Italian club, according to The Sun. Skrtel has just one year left on his contract with the Reds and is unhappy with the way negotiations on a new deal have gone. Meanwhile, Inter are just the latest team to get involved. Schalke and Wolfsburg are watching what happens with Skrtel and Liverpool, while Rafa Benitez may want to reunite with the defender at Real Madrid.

Paper Round's view - Liverpool can't afford to lose Skrtel. They had enough defensive problems last season and if Skrtel leaves then the heart of the Reds' defence becomes Dejan Lovren and Kolo Toure. That's just not good. It's not a wonder that other teams are interested in Skrtel either and that just puts the pressure on the Reds to bring Skrtel back. This backlog of contract issues doesn't look very good for Liverpool, does it?

- - -

Man United lining up Muslera to replace De Gea - Manchester United are preparing for life after David De Gea and The Metro think that the Red Devils are near a deal to put Fernando Muslera between the sticks next season. Man United would buy Muslera from Galatasaray for £15 million and install the 28-year-old, who has played over 100 times for Gala since joining them from Lazio, as their starting goalkeeper. 

Paper Round's view - The rumours of who Man United could get to replace De Gea used to be Hugo Lloris and Asmir Begovic. Now they're looking at Muslera? That's quite the drop off. Muslera is pretty good stopper and is capable of doing some phenomenal things, but he's also prone to mistakes. Man United can do a lot better than him and should go back to Plan A (Lloris) and Plan B (Begovic) because Muslera is more like Plan H.

- - -

Sunderland give Advocaat £50 million to spend - Dick Advocaat retired. And then he changed his mine and returned to Sunderland for a full season at the club after saving them from relegation this year. What changed his mind? The Mirror believe Sunderland promised him £50 million to spend in the transfer market and that played a big role in it. Now he's eyeing several players, including Virgil van Dijk, Patrick Bamford and Sam Byram.

Paper Round's view - It never seemed like Advocaat really wanted to retire. He dreamed of managing in the Premier League and a couple months in England probably wasn't enough for him. Getting the money to build the team the way he wants probably made it impossible to say no to Sunderland and now he'll get to do his best to keep the Black Cats from relegation. Bamford would be a nice addition on loan, while van Dijk is leaving Celtic so he's available and Byram would be a marvelous young signing. Advocaat may not actually have £50 million, but you can bet he got a lot of money so the Black Cats will be spenders this summer.