🚨 Arsenal comeback, SUPERB Salah stats, plus the latest on Man City duo's future, Man Utd scouts at La Liga game, and more
Today's Briefing, featuring Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and more!
Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest edition of the Daily Briefing - thanks as always for reading, and hope you enjoy! :-)
Today’s top stories:
Plus more on Barcelona, Man Utd and Real Madrid
Arsenal
What a finish by Declan Rice to get Arsenal back in last night’s game - they never gave up! FT Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]
Declan Rice: “To show heart and character, it is not easy when 2-0 down. It's about having that fight and mindset, pushing the team, have belief. It was a good comeback. I was buzzing but we were still 2-1 down and I wanted us to keep going and get another.”
Atletico Madrid
Antoine Griezmann is now just eight goals away from becoming Atletico Madrid’s all time leading goal-scorer. A hat-trick last night for Griezmann who’s literally flying this season
Barcelona
Barcelona president Joan Laporta: “We had the opportunity to sell Frenkie de Jong for €100m. We didn’t want to accept the proposal in order not to lose part of our capacity as Frenkie is key player.”
What really went on with a big bid for Frenkie de Jong? More info here.
And is Julian Alvarez a realistic option for Barcelona? Full details here.
Brighton
Chelsea
That’s now three goals and one assist in the last four starts with Chelsea and Ukraine for Mykhaylo Mudryk - but did he mean this one against Arsenal yesterday? FT Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]
Mauricio Pochettino supports Robert Sanchez: “It’s not to blame someone. It can happen. It will arrive with time. when to be calm and when to take risks. We’re a young team getting to know each other. We are so happy with him. Of course he is disappointed and upset with his decision.”
Pochettino: “Credits to Marc Cucurella. He deserves that, really. He is training super well, he played very well against a very good player like Saka. He is working really hard and remember: he was able to play on the right side.”
Leeds United
Crysencio Summerville scored an impressive brace yesterday against Norwich — he rejected several clubs in the summer to stay at Leeds. Bournemouth, Everton and Burnley were all interested and more Premier League clubs are now monitoring Crysencio ahead of the January transfer window.
Liverpool
Mohamed Salah made the difference again for Liverpool in yesterday’s Merseyside Derby. The Egyptian has been on fire this season after Saudi deal collapsed in August, when Liverpool decided they didn’t want to sell. He’s now on seven goals and four assists in nine Premier League games so far this season.
Salah finished a well-worked counter-attack late on, finishing with all his usual quality and composure. FT Liverpool 2-0 Everton [Pictures courtesy of TNT Sports]
Manchester City
Manchester United
Sad news as Sir Bobby Charlton has died at the age of 86, he was one of the greatest players the game has seen.
Erik ten Hag: “McTominay’s attitude is an example for everyone. Team mentality, not single player mentality. Of course I can’t expect that every time a player comes on, he scores two goals two minutes later. But this attitude is what we need.”
Erik ten Hag says Harry Maguire isn’t booed by United fans: “I haven’t heard it, not in England. I think all of the fans were supportive for us in the game against Brentford.”
What a winning goal this was from Diogo Dalot, who showed his quality with a rare strike to give Manchester United all three points! FT Sheffield United 1-2 Manchester United [Pictures courtesy of Sky Sports]
Man Utd had scouts at this La Liga game, but who were they watching?
Napoli
Napoli director Mauro Meluso on Victor Osimhen’s contract situation: “The president will meet with Victor’s agent to discuss that in the next weeks. It’s also normal for Osimhen to take some time in order to think about the contract proposal we made.”
What next for Osimhen? Latest details here.
Newcastle United
Newcastle fans showed their support to Sandro Tonali at St. James Park during yesterday’s win over Crystal Palace…
Are Newcastle in the race to sign Kalvin Phillips? More info here.
Nice
OGC Nice again on top of Ligue1 with 34-year-old Italian manager Farioli doing incredible job — also beating OM last night. INEOS group’s Nice are unbeaten with five wins and four draws this season.
Palmeiras
Palmeiras gem Estevao has scored a hat-trick today... and he’s on the list of many European top clubs. “I am a Barcelona fan, it's my dream to play for them!” he told Mundo Deportivo.
Real Madrid
Vinicius Junior official statement. "Congratulations to Sevilla on the quick positioning and penalty in another sad episode for Spanish football. Unfortunately I have access to a video of another racist at this Saturday’s game, this time carried out by a child. So sad there is no one to educate her. I invest a lot in education in Brazil to train citizens with different attitudes. The face of today's racist is stamped on websites as like several other times. I hope Spanish authorities do their part and change legislation for once. These people need to be criminally punished too. It would be a great first step to prepare for 2030 World Cup. I am here to help. Sorry to sound repetitive, but it's episode number 10. And counting…"
The latest on Carlo Ancelotti’s future amid links with the Brazilian national team.
For all the very latest transfer news, read caughtoffside.com
Pretty happy with a point considering how bad we were, but needs to be better from Arsenal, and a striker badly needed for January