Paper Round: Mourinho confident on United job, Pep's City want Neymar, Suarez
Sunday's papers point to Mourinho inching closer and closer to replacing Van Gaal, while Manchester City want world class talent for Pep Guardiola's arrival.
Mourinho 'confident' of Manchester United job
The Independent are reporting Jose Mourinho is reportedly confident of an eventual Manchester United move, despite the fact that no pre-agreements or contracts have been signed. The Portuguese managerial mastermind in the report is considered a 'necessary' appointment considering the circumstances of Manchester City hiring Pep Guardiola, with representatives of Mourinho believing the club is ready to hand the job to their client after recent discussions despite no official deal.
Paper Round's view: The Independent's Miguel Delaney also broke the story of Mourinho's dossier reportedly sent to United, so this latest update would be read with interest. Furthermore, Portuguese sources were adamant a pre-contract deal had been done, according to a story in Spanish newspaper El Confidencial on Friday. As much as Louis van Gaal and the club might insist otherwise in public, it is clear that the Dutchman's reign is coming to an end - as much as some in the United hierachy are wary of Mourinho, he is the obvious counterpoint to City's appointment of Pep Guardiola.
Barcelona duo Neymar and Busquets targeted by Pep Guardiola in Manchester City £150m double swoop
Speaking of Guardiola, Neymar and Sergio Busquets are at the top of the incoming Manchester City manager's shopping list. The story also cites City players Yaya Toure, Wilfred Bony and Jesus Navas the most vulnerable to being cleared out in the summer, as Guardiola has been given the green light to spend heavily in order to retool the team to his wishes. Messi is reportedly considered 'unattainable', as he Guardiola reportedly fell out towards the end of his stint at the Nou Camp.
Paper Round's view: Neymar's availability is tenuous at best. Only if the continued trials into tax evasion in Spain strains his relationship with playing football there, only then he will be on the market. But we are talking about the player most likely to inherit Messi's crown as the best in the world, so clearly Barcelona will do everything in their power to keep him. Guardiola considers the holding midfielder to be the most important position on the pitch and Busquets is still just about the best in the business. Busquets might be a challenge to remove from Barcelona, but there's always Thiago Alcantara at Bayern (and previously Barca) who could be drafted to do the job.
Manchester City to target Luis Suarez
In more City rebuild stories, the Mirror point to Luis Suarez being linked to a switch back to the Premier League. The report states that Guardiola's football agent brother Pere, who manages Suarez, has encouraged City that a deal could be reached if Barcelona's interests were met.
Paper Round's view: This would be in the 'possible but unlikely' column, along with Neymar. Barcelona will want to avoid breaking up the dream team at all costs, and would probably ask for an exceptional fee for the 30 year old striker.
David Moyes the next manager to snub big money move to China
David Moyes has told the Sun he'd prefer to head back to the Premier League as his next job, after turning down a big money move to manage a club in the Chinese Super League. Moyes, who is now 52, spoke of his desire to reach his 1,000 game managerial milestone.
Paper Round's view: It's odd a team lower down the Premier League hasn't managed to sell themselves successfully to Moyes. Despite his failures at United and Sociedad, there's still plenty he could offer a side looking to bat above their average.
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