Football Paper Round: Manchester City win race to sign £50m Everton defender John Stones

Man City in pole position to sign John Stones

Manchester City are confident of signing John Stones from Everton and are willing to pay up to £50m for the centre-back - according to the Telegraph. Everton have quoted the enormous sum, but it hasn't deterred Pep Guardiola, who sees the defender as the perfect player to anchor his new-look

City side. Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea are also interested, but City are confident of out-spending their transfer rivals.

West Ham aim high with Kovacic approach

Mateo Kovacic is heading for the exit door at Real Madrid - Imago

Real Madrid are looking to offload Croatian central midfielder Mateo Kovacic this summer, with West Ham United leading the race for his signature - reports the Daily Mail. It would take a £30m bid for West Ham to secure Kovacic's signature, but Everton are also weighing up a bid. The player's box-to-box style is well suited to the Premier League and a number of other clubs are likely to enter the race to sign the 22-year-old.

Belgium's stars fail to deliver

Wales have rightly taken the headlines for their stunning 3-1 win over Belgium in Friday's Euro 2016 quarter-final, but Marc Wilmots' side once again failed to deliver on the big stage - says Paul Wilson in the Guardian. The current generation of Belgian talent is the country's best ever, but for the second major tournament in a row they have failed to show consistency. A Jekyll and Hyde team, Belgium arrived in Lille in good spirits after an encouraging victory over Hungary, but failed to deliver anything close to their potential on the night as another chance at silverware went begging.

Source: Eurosport