Paper Round: Manchester United bid £100m for Real Madrid's Gareth Bale... twice

'United made two £100m bids for Bale' - How badly did Manchester United want Gareth Bale? The Sun claim that the Red Devils twice bid £100 million for the Welshman this summer, and Real Madrid turned them down both times. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has refused to do business with United, which is why he refused to consider the bids for Bale, as well as offers for Karim Benzema and Raphael Varane.

Paper Round's view - The idea that Real Madrid would say no to £100m for Bale is crazy. Then again, so is bidding £100m for Bale. Normally, that would be enough to dismiss this as a silly rumour, but Perez is seemingly capable of holding spectacular grudges, while United have way too much money. So if any two clubs were going to make this kind of rumour come true, it'd be these two.

'Wolfsburg open door for De Bruyne's City move' - Wolfsburg will allow Kevin de Bruyne to open talks with Manchester City, but The Sun believe that they will only do so if the Citizens make a big offer. The German club will need a bid of more than £45m to consider selling their talented midfielder and De Bruyne has said he's focused on preparing for the upcoming season, but the door is open for Man City.

Paper Round's view - There had been reports that Wolfsburg had ruled out selling De Bruyne this late in the summer. If they really are now open to it, even at a staggering price, that has to be a positive for City. The Citizens still need help in their midfield and they need to get younger. If they could land De Bruyne, that would be huge, but they're still a big offer away and Wolfsburg probably aren't really that open to selling him anyway.

'Pedro will be United player, maybe Pepe too' - Manchester United will finalize their £20m deal for Pedro in the next 48 hours and then could sign Pepe, according to The Mirror. Barcelona still want £24m for Pedro, but Louis van Gaal thinks it'll be a £20m deal and will be wrapped up soon. He may then have a go at signing Pepe, who is being offered up by Real Madrid after falling behind Sergio Ramos and Varane on Rafael Benitez's depth chart.

Paper Round's view - Pedro has long looked bound for United so them verging on finalising the transfer isn't a surprise. Pepe going to Old Trafford certainly would be. Even if Ramos and Varane are first choice, Real Madrid would certainly need more than two centre backs this season. Plus, if they were going to offload him, several clubs would be interested and Real would undoubtedly prefer he go somewhere other than United.

'Chelsea could bid £15m for Rose' - Chelsea have turned to Spurs for a left back. The Mirror understand that Chelsea have told Tottenham to "name their price" for Danny Rose and are willing to pay as much as £15m for the left back. The Blues need a left back and have asked about Abdul Baba Rahman, but would prefer to sign Rose after he put together a strong season for Spurs last year.

Paper Round's view - Chelsea could have Rahman for £17m so there's little reason for them to go higher than that in their bidding for Rose. That leaves Tottenham to consider whether their valuation of Rose exceeds that. Spurs do have Ben Davies, so they would be fine at left back even if they sold Rose. But Mauricio Pochettino was exceptionally happy with Rose last season so it's more likely that they pass and the Blues turn their attention to Rahman.

Southampton bid on van Dijk - Virgil van Dijk could be going to Southampton. Sources tell The Express that the Saints have submitted a £7m bid to Celtic for the Dutch defender. Southampton are willing to let Van Dijk play in Celtic's Champions League qualifier, but want to have the deal done so he can join up with the team before this weekend's Premier League opener.

Paper Round's view - It seems as if Celtic recognise that Van Dijk wants a Premier League move and are going to accommodate it. That they want to keep him long enough to qualify for the Champions League group stage is reasonable considering the stage and money associated with it, but they're going to have to let him go. £7m is a fair enough price and the Saints could do with defensive help so he would be a nice addition. Southampton's relationship with Celtic, having bought Fraser Forster and Victor Wanyama in the last two years, will only help.