Paper Round: Liverpool and Chelsea battle for Renato Sanches and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Liverpool are attempting to beat Chelsea to the signature of Arsenal midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The 24-year-old England international told Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger that he wanted to leave the club during contract negotiations last week. Wenger is happy to sell Oxlade-Chamberlain rather than lose him on a free transfer at the end of the season. While Chelsea have better relations with Arsenal, teammates expect him to join Liverpool.

Paper Round's view: At Liverpool, Oxlade-Chamberlain would be comfortably better than Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, and would be effective back-up should they fail to sign a replacement for Philippe Coutinho (assuming he eventually leaves for Barcelona). However, at Chelsea, Oxlade-Chamberlain would find it harder to crack the first team, he would probably find his chances of winning a trophy much higher.

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As Arsenal plan for sales, they are also attempting to bring in two more players to the squad. Wenger is pursuing Southampton central defender Virgil van Dijk, and Monaco forward Thomas Lemar. However, they have failed to meet the asking price for either player so far, and Wenger is considering putting a concerted effort into signing them next season, not this one.

Paper Round's view: Wenger's squad was not good enough to qualify for the Champions League last season, so it is baffling that he would be prepared to go into this season with a similarly week squad. He might save some money by waiting another year to sign the players, but at this rate it is hard to imagine why Arsenal would be interested in keeping him at the club. Other clubs are pulling further ahead.

Liverpool and Chelsea might both want Oxlade-Chamberlain, but they also face a race for Bayern's midfielder Renato Sanches. Both the clubs are waiting to see if they can persuade Bayern Munich to let the 20-year-old Portuguese international leave after dithering over whether they want to retain him. Bayern beat Manchester United to his signing last year, but are aiming to recoup most of the £44m he cost them.

Paper Round's view: Sanches showed before his time in Germany that he was a talented player capable of driving a midfield, but has failed to adapt quickly to his new surroundings. Bayern play a different style than he was used to in and for Portugal, and he might find that Liverpool and Chelsea's more direct approach to the game more suited to his talents.

England manager Gareth Southgate has tempered praise of Dele Alli by reminding him that there are more challenges ahead, and there's an expectation that he continue to improve. Southgate said of the 21-year-old Spurs playmaker: “He’s a young player but he’s not a proven player. At the moment, he hasn’t won anything. Like all young players, he’s got to keep looking to improve. His goalscoring record over the past couple of years is phenomenal for a player who is not an out-and-out striker.”

Paper Round's view: Alli is that rare thing, an English player so good at football that you would assume that he could not be English. The last time that could said to be true was when Wayne Rooney emerged at Everton and flourished at Manchester United. At United, Rooney might have suffered from his lifestyle and a touch of complacency, things that do not appear to be downsides for Alli. That could change, and Southgate is right to encourage him not to tread water.