🚨 Man Utd star VERY likely to leave, the truth behind Hazard's retirement decision, Arsenal came close to losing midfielder, and could Man City ace join PL rivals?

Today's headlines, featuring Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City and much more!

Oct 11, 2023

Good morning everyone and welcome to another edition of the Daily Briefing - brought to you completely ad-free and straight to your inbox as always. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy!

Today’s top stories:

It looks like this Manchester United player’s Old Trafford career is over
Arsenal nearly lost this highly-rated wonderkid to their rivals
Plus more from Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid

Arsenal

Arsenal came close to losing this wonderkid in the summer - full details here.
Gabriel Jesus: “Obviously when I chose to move from City to Arsenal, Edu and Arteta spoke to me, and I made it clear that I’d like to play 9. That was Arsenal’s idea, for me to play 9, loose. This season has been different, we’ve had injuries and in the last few games I’ve played three up front. For a while, I thought I’d just say I wanted to play 9, but I’m here to help the team.” - Full story here.
📰 Arsenal are leading the race for Borussia Dortmund and England wonderkid Jamie Bynoe-Gittens (Bild)

Atletico Madrid

Alvaro Morata: “I had options from Saudi Arabia. I don’t know if the teams that want me are crazy or something, but I always have options! If I were to go to Saudi, I’d say again that it's my dream to play there just to mess with people who want to harm me!”

Barcelona

Lionel Messi’s return to Barcelona would be a ‘romantic’ move.

Bayern Munich

Bayern and Chelsea were in attendance to follow 17 year old talent Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras vs Boca Juniors, as two of five top European clubs in the stands. No official bid from Chelsea and Bayern but both will keep monitoring Luis then decide about formal bid.
Bayern are expected to push for this top signing in January - full details here.

Besiktas

Former striker Burak Yılmaz will be the manager of Besiktas until further notice by the Turkish club. Decision has been made and formally announced tonight.

Birmingham City

Birmingham City are closing in on the appointment of Wayne Rooney as their new head coach. Final details are being sorted then it will be time to announce an agreement with Rooney, who has left DC United in MLS.

Chelsea

Chelsea legend Eden Hazard announced his retirement from professional football yesterday, saying: “You must listen to yourself and say stop at the right time. After 16 years and more than 700 matches played, I have decided to end my career as a professional footballer. I was able to realise my dream, I have played and had fun on many pitches around the world.” - Full statement here.
Hazard had other offers before deciding to retire - more exclusive info here.
Click here to watch Hazard’s best Chelsea goals - what a player he was!
Chelsea and Bayern were in attendance to follow 17 year old talent Luis Guilherme from Palmeiras in their game against Boca Juniors, as two of five top European clubs in the stands. No official bid yet from Chelsea or Bayern but both will keep on monitoring the player and then decide about a formal bid.
Find out more about Mauricio Pochettino’s role in Chelsea transfers here.
Inter director Ausilio: “We won’t sign Armando Broja in January. We’re happy with the strikers we have. We know Broja very well, he’s back and he recently scored but there’s no chance to see him joining Inter.”

Euro 2028

Euro 2028 will take place in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Venues include Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dublin, Glasgow, Liverpool, London (x2) Manchester and Newcastle.

Euro 2032

Euro 2032 will take place in Italy and Turkey, co-hosts of the event. “The bidders presented 20 potential host stadiums, of which 10 will be chosen, five per country, by October 2026,” UEFA reports.

Fulham

Could this Fulham star be on the way out in January?

Inter Miami

What’s the truth behind reports of Lionel Messi going on loan to a European club?
A reminder of the Messi magic we’ve already seen in Miami! [Pictures courtesy of ESPN]

Inter Milan

Inter director Ausilio: “We won’t sign Armando Broja in January. We’re happy with the strikers we have. We know Broja very well, he’s back and he recently scored but there’s no chance to see him joining Inter.”

Manchester City

There’s reported interest in Kalvin Phillips - latest details here.
📰 Man City are keen to open talks over a new contract for Erling Haaland and remove his £173m release clause (Gazzetta dello Sport)

Manchester United

Manchester United have also added Goncalo Inacio to their list of centre-backs now being monitored/scouted. Antonio Silva, Jean-Clair Todibo and Edmond Tapsoba also remain on their list. No final decision now, it will take time; based on player skills, reports, price and more.
Andre Onana is fighting to improve after a poor start at Manchester United - more info here.
This Man Utd star is highly likely to leave in January - more info here.
Harry Maguire has spoken about how close he really came to joining West Ham in the summer [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports News]

Napoli

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis: “It’s not a good moment with manager Rudi Garcia. When you decide to go for a coach who doesn’t know Italian football anymore, it can happen. I’ll make the best decision at the right moment. I can’t be influenced by fans.”
Napoli president De Laurentiis: “I can reveal that I called Luis Enrique in June but… luckily, Luis wanted to join Paris Saint-Germain — look at his results at PSG now! We spoke to Thiago Motta in June but he didn’t want to replace Spalletti after his results.”

Newcastle United

Newcastle have been linked with Kalvin Phillips, but what’s the truth? Full info here.

Real Madrid

Former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane on his next job: “No news, nothing right now. I’m enjoying my family and then we’ll see what happens in the future. It will always be full of rumours as long as I’m a manager, let’s see…”
How nightmare at Real Madrid persuaded Eden Hazard to retire.
Joselu: “I’m here at Real Madrid on a loan deal with buy option, nothing else. I would really love to stay. Real Madrid is my life’s club, I want to do a special season in order to convince the club and stay here.”
Joselu: “Mbappe deal? There were moments when it seemed like he was very close, then there were days when it seemed like he wasn't going to come. In a locker room you always talk about everything. There were moments when it seemed like he was going to come.”
Thibaut Courtois confirms: “My recovery is going very well, I don’t use crutches anymore. Now I walk and work... I hope to be back as soon as possible.”
Just a reminder of how important Courtois is for Real Madrid - his Man of the Match display against Liverpool in the Champions League final! [Pictures courtesy of Real Madrid/YouTube]

Salernitana

Salernitana have decided to fire the manager Paulo Sousa with immediate effect. He’s set to be sacked. Filippo Inzaghi will be appointed as new head coach, Salernitana have decided.