Real Madrid to sign David de Gea either this year or next from Manchester United

Real Madrid have offered David de Gea a £12 million bonus in case he sees out his final year of the contract he has with Manchester United. However, Real remain interested in taking De Gea from United before the transfer window closes. There's no guarantee that United will be able to keep him, even for less than they postured about during the height of the Sergio Ramos discussions. That story is in the Mirror.

In the Manchester Evening News, Sergio Romero explains the tense, protracted and dicey negotiations that saw United somehow able to get his signature: nobody else wanted to sign him. His highlights reel shows why, but to his credit he has started well this season.

Martin Samuel, as on the wane as Wayne Rooney is himself, correctly identifies in the Mail that he is now completely ineffectual. Rumours of a replacement are now depressingly absent, and it looks like James Wilson and Javier Hernandez are his competition for the season. So, one youngster with only a few professional appearances, and someone the manager was happy to loan out last year.

In the Guardian, there's a story that Manchester City are closing in on Nicolas Otamendi. Now, United have themselves insisted there was no interest at all, throughout the summer, but regardless of whether that is true or not, they desperately need a better central defence than they currently have. It's true that a better midfield will help them this year, but it's still not good enough. Elsewhere, though, there's an expectation that Kevin De Bruyne will make his way to City too, giving United less reason to worry over sorting the Pedro deal.