The top stories making Tuesday’s back pages in the UK…
The Sun: Wayne Rooney is wanted as the face of China’s bid to become a football super-power. Approaches have been made to tempt Rooney, 30, into finishing his career in a revamped and cash-rich Chinese Super League.
Also: Brendan Rodgers is in Qatar talking over a mega-money deal to return to football.
And: Manuel Lanzini has fulled rumours of a summer switch to Liverpool by describing reported interest from the Merseyside giants as “an absolute honour”.
Daily Mirror: Gareth Bale has commissioned the construction of a three-hole golf course in the garden of his Vale of Glamorgan home in Wales.
Also: Carlo Ancelotti IS open to the possibility of returning to Real Madrid as manager.
And: He speaks up one week to criticise UEFA’s complacency on drugs cheats – then Arsenal get a visit from ten members of the organisation’s doping control unit the next. Coincidence? Arsene Wenger couldn’t possibly say.
And: Philippe Coutinho will discover his injury fate on Tuesday, amid fears his hamstring problem may be more serious than first thought.
Daily Star: Premier League rivals Stoke and Bournemouth have joined the race to sign Championship sensation Lewis Cook.
Daily Mail: Jack Grealish has been filmed enjoying a boozy night out in the hours after Aston Villa’s 4-0 defeat by Everton and partying in a hotel the next day. It appears hippy crack is being inhaled from balloons by friends.
Also: So the gamble backfired. Having banked on Francis Coquelin going through the season without picking up an injury, Arsene Wenger now has a problem. A big problem.
Daily Express: Cristiano Ronaldo will not be joining Manchester United, according to his agent Jorge Mendes.
Also: Manchester United have declared their interest in signing Moussa Dembele from Fulham, according to reports.
Metro: Manchester United are ready to pay Cristiano Ronaldo’s giant wages to bring him back to Old Trafford, according to reports.
Also: Chelsea are ready to pay Borussia Dortmund’s £42.1million asking price to sign Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, according to reports.
And: Manchester United are ready to open talks with Southampton over a deal for Saido Mane, according to reports.
Daily Telegraph: Cristiano Ronaldo is more likely to join Paris Saint-Germain than Manchester United, if Real Madrid sell.
The Times: José Mourinho took a swipe at Graeme Le Saux last night as he praised his players’ professionalism in travelling to Israel without complaint for tonight’s Champions League tie against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Also: And so it has come down to this. Arsenal, after 16 successive seasons of reaching the second stage of the Champions League, could achieve victory at the Emirates Stadium tonight and still see that proud tradition come to an end.
And: This really should not have been possible. Sam Allardyce admitted that his players were “very nervous” about the system that he asked them to play, a system that had collapsed so spectacularly against Everton three weeks earlier.
The Guardian: Arsène Wenger has claimed his criticism of Uefa over doping resulted in 10 anti-doping officers turning up at Arsenal’s training ground last Friday to carry out random checks on his players.
Also: Crystal Palace’s co-owner Steve Parish is hoping to have the deal to sell a sizeable shareholding to American investors in place before Christmas and has moved to reassure fans that he remains committed to the club.
